Ashura
by Unlimited Blade Works
Summary: Reincarnation is a funny thing really, the power passed down from time immemorial continues to surface to this day in the chosen individuals. One who always inherits the Life Force while the other Inherits the Eyes, however most do not begin to reach their true potential for quite some time. But what if one was given a little push, it's time. Awaken Ashura!
1. All The Evils Of The World

**Ashura**

**Prologue: All The Evils Of The World**

**Authors Note-**

This started after a question my friend asked me a couple of weeks ago.

I won't spoil anything here but suffice to say I have somewhere around 35 pages of notes for this story and I haven't even finished part one yet so this is your first look at the story you don't really get told all that much but I hope you guys are a little interested.

Also no this has not been edited or BETA'd, if/when chapter 1 gets done I'll do it then.

Anyway enough of my talking, or writing as the case may be please enjoy.

Oh, and no I don't know when I'll finish the next chapter of anything.

**Story Start-**

I can taste blood.

My left arm, by the feeling of things it's most likely fractured in at least three places. But compared against the rest of my body it's probably in the least amount of pain.

My right leg, at least five fractures and I'm fairly certain I ripped just about every muscle in it, probably a few tendons as well now that I think about it.

Rib Cage, Shattered. Underneath that I'm fairly certain that my internal organs are at the very least ruptured, that is if a few haven't been outright destroyed.

My neck is killing me but I don't think there's actually been any damage done to it, same as my skull and jaw. My nose however is quite clearly broken, I can feel the blood running down and back into my throat, I'm not choking on it yet but it's a near thing really.

The man across from me really isn't any different than I am when it comes to injuries, his right arm has been virtually destroyed.

His left leg seems to be just as damaged as my own right.

I know for a fact there's not a rib in his body that I haven't broken and that his organs probably are just as bad or worse than my own.

In an ironic twist of fate his nose is in the same condition as mine is. I kind of hope that the blood that must be sliding down his throat at this point is choking him worse than mine is but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part.

The man in front of me once told me that peace is a delusion, what the hell he's probably right but fuck I'm all about delusions.

The Delusion that I could save everyone from an unhappy ending.

The Delusion that I could help Obito, save him from the end I think we both knew was coming.

The Delusion that everyone could understand each other.

You know what fuck it lets add The Delusion that I could have free all you can eat Ramen from Ichiraku's to that list while we're at it. I dreamed that when I was what? 12? 13? I don't even remember anymore.

Which is strange really, because I can usually remember dreams that concern Ramen.

So you know what fine, I'm quite happy to add the delusion that peace can exist when people understand each other to that list I mean I can't possibly be any worse than the others. Hell I think I might even be able to pull that one off despite everything, even if I most likely will do so posthumously.

I look at the man before me, his Sharingan looks into my eyes but I know my power will prevent any illusion from ensnaring my senses, suck on that you stupid over powered pieces of shit!

His name was Uchiha Madara and he was my one true opponent, no one else.

Not the fierce swordsman I faced on my first C Rank.

Not his helper that, while seemingly cruel, was actually so kind.

Not that Snake Bastard, or his little silver haired ass puppet for that matter.

Not the Akatsuki.

Not the man with the eyes of Rikudo.

Not even Obito, who by the end of everything was just a pawn in Madara's plan, who in turn was a pawn of someone else.

No all of them didn't matter now that my one true enemy was before me.

I draw air into my lungs, they're on fire by the way just in case you wanted to know.

My blue eyes harden as I slip into my stance, my body getting ready for the explosion of action that is about to happen. This wont turn into a battle of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, we're both to worn out to even try using those. So all that's left is Taijutsu, no skill involved, just a simple brawl to the death.

You know even as a ninja I've never had to use those words before, funny really in this profession it kind of seems like something I'd say more often.

To be completely honest there's not really much point in me attacking Madara right now, if I just leave him he'll be dead in the next few minutes anyway. But that doesn't matter he almost managed to complete his Moon's Eye Plan once, I'm not going to give him another chance, no matter how unlikely it may seem, to pull it off.

But then again I guess the same could be said for me, unless old man Rikudo chooses to step in again I won't last past the next few minutes either, so I may as well spend my time productively and since I can't spend it with the ones I love I guess I'll have to settle for killing the man I hate.

Madara steps forward, I do the same.

There's not much time left for either of us.

He needs to kill me to, at the very least attempt, to fulfil his wish.

I need to kill him to destroy his wish.

"AHRHHAH!" Madara roars and kicks off the ground, closing the distance between us.

"GRAHHRARRRA!" My overworked throat splits at the back, I can taste more blood now but I could not let his war cry go unanswered, my pride would not allow it.

Madara's fist swings out with a speed he thinks I can't avoid, I force my heavily damaged right leg to move the way I want it to and that force makes it feel like someone just set my nerves on fire. Still the move was the important thing, I avoid his blow and crouch down by his side delivering a hard shot to his body. It doesn't matter what kind of defence he has, my attack is meant to damage the inside not the outside.

Kind of like the Juken but less girly.

You know I actually told that to Neji once...he didn't speak to me for a week after.

I don't waste any time, I kick up at him with lightning fast legs.

Well at least they're lightning fast for an almost dead man...cut me some slack I am **literally** dying here.

Madara is sent several meters back by the impact of my strike, that kick was strong enough to break bones. Actually considering where I hit him I probably just ruptured his stomach if it wasn't already, good that would cause him a bit more pain and Madara in pain would always be a good thing in my book.

Taking the shortest route to the target without showing any signs of the initial movement. A straight line and a circle, a technique that is meant to damage the inside instead of the outside, though admittedly it took me years to get my art to that point.

Kaihei Seki: Roku Kyokudo Kobushi, Opening Gate: Six Extremes Fist.

The style of Taijutsu passed down to me by Ashura.

Honestly compared against how I usually am able to use the style my attacks against Madara are lacklustre. However considering he wasn't able to counter them my sub-par use of the style seems to be enough against a dying man. However even with that attack Madara is still standing meaning that this fight isn't over just yet.

I can see it in his eyes, his body is tensing up getting ready for our next engagement. This time he's going to be ready for me.

There's nothing else for it I simply have to be faster than him this time as well, I have to completely surpass that man in an exchange of fists.

I don't take my eyes off Madara as he closes in like a spark, my eyes must stay focused I can't afford to miss a single move less it end with my own death. Granted I am going to die either way but I refuse to let that happen before I send this bastard to hell.

I don't care about some millennia old wish or even the end of this small world anymore.

No.

For Uzumaki Naruto defeating this enemy is the last remaining purpose.

"ARGGRGRG!" A roar more animalistic than human is ripped from my enemies throat and I can't help but answer it.

"GRHRGRHHHAAA!" The roar is just like his, more animal than man.

His fist comes forward at the same time as my own, I must surpass him no matter what.

However as his fist comes towards me I can't help remember the events that led me here, back all those years ago before I earned all the titles that people had given me, before I earned the title that I both deserved and hated with all my heart and soul.

Nakamagoroshi no Naruto, Friend Killer Naruto.

Ah yes that's right, it was so long ago...

**Prologue End.**

**Next Time: First Steps**


	2. The First Step

**Ashura**

**Chapter One: The First Step**

**Authors Note-**

Okay It's done and It's 1 am and I have a Black Belt Grading in 2 Days and 10 hours so I'm not going to say to much here.

Also why does everyone seem to assume that Naruto killed Sasuke, he didn't he killed someone else.

This has not yet been BETA'd, I'll get right on that when I wake back up.

Please Enjoy.

**Story Start-**

Uzumaki Naruto was thought of as many different things by many different people a demon, a student, an idiot, a Genin. The list went on, truly there were as many different ways of referring to Naruto as there were people who knew him. However there was always one that upset the blond the most, that of idiot. In Naruto's own personal opinion he was many things, but he was no idiot, at least not completely. True he believed in people more than he really should considering his life thus far and he wasn't exactly book smart, but that wasn't the same thing as being an idiot. An idiot was someone who didn't learn from his mistakes and, with the exception of Sakura, Naruto most definitely **did** learn from his.

If the incident with Mizuki had made one thing crystal clear for him it was quite simply that Naruto had to be able to objectively look at every situation. Not look at them from the angle he wanted to, not look at them from the angle that other people wanted him to and, most of all, not to look at them from an emotional angle, though granted he was still having problems with the last one on that list.

It was however, for this exact reason that Naruto was able to look at the situation he found himself in, a member of Team 7, without rose coloured glasses on and that, at least in his own opinion, was a very good thing.

The first thing that he noticed was quite simple, they were barely a team at all.

That had been a sobering realisation, though it had also been one that was easy to see after sitting down and thinking about it for a few minutes. Sakura didn't really like him very much, if at all really, and that had been heartbreaking to admit to himself. Sasuke didn't like **either of them** at all as far as Naruto could see, not surprising considering the fact that Sasuke didn't really like anybody but the fact remained that both of these things led to one very simple, if very large, problem.

Team 7 was virtually incapable of working together on anything larger than a D Rank mission.

After putting that together it wasn't hard to see why Kakashi-sensei had them doing so many team work drills, because they barely rated the word 'team' at all. Considering the man's fixation on team work, and Konoha's as a whole for that matter, it wasn't exactly hard to see why he would do something like that. It also meant that he probably wouldn't give them any training in any other form of the Ninja Arts until they managed to gel together as a team and looking objectively at the situation Naruto wasn't sure that would every happen, however this left him with a rather large problem. Said problem being how he was supposed to improve as a Shinobi if his Sensei wouldn't teach him until Team 7 managed to become a real team, something that he didn't see happening in the near future.

It wasn't really a problem for Sasuke after all he was the heir to a Clan, granted he was also the last of that Clan but that really wasn't the point. The point was that Sasuke could access his Clan library without a problem gaining new Jutsu more or less when he wanted as well as advice for a myriad of subject that would most likely be very helpful.

Sakura had a similar resource in the many Shinobi that lived inside of Konoha, and while she was of Civilian decent the fact of the matter was that the Haruno's were a very well respected merchant family and could quite likely pay for tutoring or scrolls if needed. Which was a resource he didn't have access to, the Shinobi for the most part just ignored him but quite a few were rather antagonistic and as for buying a scroll to learn a technique, well his Genin Salary barely covered what he needed to pay rent, when one adding in things like groceries and rent to the equasion the chances of him having enough money for a scroll was virtually nil. Besides while it was rare some people did not sell to him, when he was younger he wondered why, now he knew, so it was completely possible that the store that held those scrolls wouldn't sell to him even if he could afford to buy them, which he couldn't.

This naturally left Naruto in quite the bind when it came to trying to improve his skills since the aforementioned options were not available to him. From what he could see Naruto narrowed his options down to a very slim two, the first was to go to Iruka and ask for more training. This however was something he would like to avoid due to his former Sensei's large amount of work already. His second option was to head up to the Hokage and ask Jiji if he would help him and while Naruto was completely certain that if asked the Hokage would help him it was something he would also like to avoid since the Hokage had an already large workload and his training would no doubt take more time from his busy schedule.

So Naruto had chosen to take option three, the self-training option. In complete honesty he didn't really expect it to change to much but if he didn't show improvement in his Shurikenjutsu, the current art he was working on, by next week then he would bite the bullet and ask either his old Sensei or the Hokage for help. Naruto really did hope that it didn't come to that but all things considered it probably would.

At that moment he found himself standing in the middle of training ground 29, or as he preferred to call it training ground Naruto. The reason for this was quite simple, no one used training ground 29, ever. As a matter of fact Naruto couldn't even remember the last time he saw someone on the training grounds either side of it either. Not that it was particularly surprising though, training ground 29 was at the far edges of Konoha so there wasn't much reason for anyone to make use of it when there were closer training grounds that could provide the same. The only thing that made training ground 29 unique was the water fall and the five by five meter pond beneath it other than that it wasn't all that different from training ground 7, well it didn't have the stumps but other than that Naruto hadn't been able to find any real difference between the two.

Before him was a straw dummy with a target located on it heart and head, around it were dozens of shuriken. Most were embedded in the targets chest, not the heart like he wanted but the chest generally, but a couple had been lodged quite deeply in the head making Naruto feel quite good about himself. He was improving but it was frustratingly slow, at ten meters he could hit those targets ten times out of ten but by backing up to twenty meters he was barely managing to hit them five times out of ten. Granted Shurikenjutsu wasn't his best subject back in the academy, Taijutsu taking the top spot, but it was still frustrating to know, not suspect but know, that Sasuke could make the shot, Naruto should know he'd seen the other boy do it.

Winding his right arm back Naruto inhaled, a shuriken in each hand, before exhaling as his body flowed forward pitching the shuriken with deadly force, his left arm followed almost instinctually launching yet another shuriken at the target, his arms came back again once more repeating the motion before doing it once more. His training was the endless repetition of this action draw, aim, throw, repeat, nothing existed but that action, the action that would eventually make him a better ninja.

The stars cut through the air with deadly precision embedding themselves into the target with dull thuds, all stuck but only five of the ten had hit the targets he had wanted, the heart and the head. With a dejected sigh Naruto lay back on the ground looking at the full moon above him, there was no training with Team 7 tomorrow, Sunday being one of their very few off days, so it didn't matter that it was almost midnight. The blond didn't say anything, just settling for looking at the sky, he could understand why Shikamaru did this now it was relaxing like everything was just not important anymore. His conciousness slipped away drawn into the realm of dreams, however not everything went the way he expected.

**XXX**

Blue eyes snapped open and Naruto picked himself up off of the ground which was covered in water for some reason or another had he rolled into the pond after he fell asleep. His eyes roamed over the area around him, pipes, cold metal and the darkness held back around him by barely working light bulbs. The blond was confident that he had never been somewhere like this before his mouth opened to ask the same question that many men had after a late night of drinking at the pub with friends.

"Where the fuck am I?" Naruto asked himself looking around, he definitely never been here before which begged the question of why he was where he was and what the hell had happened to put him there. The hallway around him was filled with water a few doors and another hallway that branched off twenty meters down, that was when he felt it a strange kind of pull, his legs worked against his will taking the Genin further down into the bowels of where ever he was. The first turn put him into a new hallway, this one looking just like the one before it, looking up as his body moved Naruto saw the way the pipes above his head had rusted and started to drip in some places, no one had been here in a long, long, time.

Panic began to rise in his throat as he continued to walk against his will, it seemed that only his head would do as he wished his body refusing to listen past his neck. The blond fought the panic down, refusing to let it show on his face even if inside it was gnawing at him inssecently trying to break free, and it would if he gave it even a single opening, that would not help him in the slightest. While Naruto may have not listened to many of Iruka's lessons the same could not be said of the lessons given to him by the Sandaime Hokage, right that second there was a lesson that stood out in Naruto's mind.

Quite simply the Sandaime had told him that no matter what the situation a Shinobi could not afford to panic as it slowed them down and diverted their concentration, something that could be dearly needed to keep them alive in the near future.

Remembering that lesson Naruto forced the feeling down further, pushing it from his mind with sheer willpower, his stubbornness was well known in Konoha, quite particularly by the ANBU that chased him after pranks. As such any ANBU member could have told you one thing with ease, if it was Naruto's stubbornness up against panic, panic would lose every single time. They would probably follow this statement up citing that they wished he wouldn't be stubborn when it came to playing pranks and making their jobs harder but that is neither here nor there at this point in time.

Taking another corner placed the blond in front of a huge gate, the word Fuin, or Seal, emblazoned at the centre of the gate, though he was not a sensor type even he could feel the waves of malevolence coming from behind the gate. While Naruto wasn't a genius like Sasuke it didn't take him long to put two and two togther, a giant gate with the word seal and a sinister feeling Chakra behind it, he was most likely inside of his seal and behind that gate was most likely Kyubi, the Biju housed within his body.

As if summoned by that thought behind the gate something shifted, something gigantic. Easily the size of the Hokage monument or even higher, if that truly was the Kyubi then the stories of the Biju's size truly did not do the creature justice. A pair of red eyes opened behind the gate, each eye larger than his own body, irises like blood and cat like slits. If he had not been sure before then Naruto was certainly sure now, he was most definitely in his Seal and the being behind it was surely the Kyubi, the very reason he was treated so badly during his childhood.

Anger appeared beside panic but was likewise forced down, while Kyubi may have been safely restrained behind a Seal made by the Yondaime Hokage himself it would most likely **not** be a good idea to confront the Biju with anger or mouth off at said Biju. After all speaking angrily, or mouthing off for that matter, to a being that could apparently obliterate mountains with a casual swing of one of it's nine tails was not a smart idea no matter how you looked at it.

"**So we meet at least," **The words rumbled out from behind the gate, the feeling of malice increased ten fold in a single second. Naruto swallowed, all of a sudden very aware of his dry throat.

"I guess so," Naruto replied, honestly he was quite impressed that he didn't stutter. The being behind the gate just snorted, whether it was in amusement or derision Naruto couldn't tell.

"**I had a desire to see my jailer and as such I brought you to this place, a whelp like you is a disappointment. Still you do seem to have some sort of potential, even if it is most likely not enough to make any real difference in this world." ** Kyubi stated, Naruto tried to not respond to the whelp comment he really did, but the fact of the matter was that despite the fact he listened to the Sandaime whenever he spoke Naruto truly was a boy who was ruled by his emotions. Not necessarily a bad thing but under the circumstances it certainly wasn't going to help him any.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Naruto demanded as his anger got the better of him. The twin red eyes narrowed behind the gigantic gates as the ancient being looked upon him.

"**I called you a whelp you worthless bag of flesh because that is what you are. You are young, belligerent, unknowing of the world, a child playing at being a man, you are a whelp." **The great Biju stated, eyes narrowing dangerously as he did so. **"And just like so many others of your pathetic kind you chose to join a profession that causes pain and death to many, you boy have just become a smaller, and vastly less effective, version of me. Except that you chose to kill for money where as I have my own reasons for the act."** Kyubi continued before snorting once more, this time it was clearly tainted by derision and scorn.

"**Like so many of your kind you take Chakra the gift given to you by the Rikudo Sennin and misuse it, like so many other humans you fail the very man your kind claims to revere like a God. Pathetic, the only thing you humans have ever managed to achieve is to kill yourselves with gifts you should never have been given, like worthless vermin you scramble looking for power spitting on the God you chose to supposedly follow. Only Senjutsu is not a blatant perversion of the power that Rikudo gave to your worthless kind and even it toes the line!" **Kyubi spat out, words grating behind it's massive teeth, the words themselves were filled with hate and vitriol towards humanity, a malice so powerful that Naruto almost felt like it was suffocating him.However despite the words there was one thing that Naruto couldn't help but ask about, something he had never even heard of before.

"Senjutsu?" The blond struggled to ask, barely managing it over the pure malice of the Chakra before him. The red eyes regarded him for a second as if judging his worth, the malice of the Chakra around him did not decrease but he saw the Kyubi's maw open once more, teeth that were easily larger than him on display inside of the massive foxes mouth.

"**Yes Senjutsu," **The Kitsune stated after a second. **"A term you have not heard before whelp, it is unsurprising considering how few of your kind chose to learn it. Your kind cares more for war and destruction that being at one with the world around them after all, even those that learn Senjutsu only do so for their own selfish gains, to become more adept at combat and make their pathetic human techniques vastly more powerful instead of the true meaning behind the technique of becoming one with nature." **Kyubi spat out, it's words boring into Naruto's skull.

"**Yes whelp, Senjutsu, by taking Natural Energy into your body something that requires one to mediate and be at one with nature around them, not moving simply being, one achieves a state where they are deeply connected to nature. Through meditation and diligence humans can achieve a state that makes them closer to what the Rikudo Sennin wanted them to be like then they ever could by following those perversion you kind has created of his other teachings." **Kyubi bit out the last statement as if saying the words physically hurt it to say, red eyes focused on Naruto once more. The feeling of malice increased by ten fold folding in on the boy who was now hyperventilating.

"**I have no more wish to see or speak with you whelp, be gone!" **The words were a command and Naruto found himself forcefully ejected from the mindscape in the same instance they were uttered. The Kyubi wrapped it's tails around it's body once more, the field had been set now it was time to see what became of it's gamble on the child.

Attempting to get the whelp to access Natural Energy was a gamble but one it was willing to take. After all Kurama wasn't a fool, it was fully capable of feeling the power inside of it's current host, Ashura was not someone Kurama had ever forgotten. The second born child of the man that Kurama considered it's creator, The Rikudo Sennin. It was easy to see that his current host was Ashura's reincarnation and like all of Ashura's reincarnations Naruto was more than likely able to use Natural Energy and Sage Mode like no others. Though Kurama would admit that none of Ashura's reincarnations had ever attempted to access Natural Energy and Sage Mode as young as the great Kitsune was manipulating Naruto into attempting.

After all the words spoken about Senjutsu had been spoken of in that exact way for a very good reason. By carefully choosing the right words Naruto now knew that Senjutsu if used would increase his ninja abilities and he had even been told how to access Natural Energy through using meditation. Kurama was no fool, it was easy to see that a child as impulsive as Naruto would try and access Natural Energy, he would be interested and, not knowing the dangers to normal humans, would attempt to take the energy into his body.

Naturally as Ashura's reincarnation he would not suffer the normal drawbacks to using Senjutsu that most did and petrify if using the wrong amount meaning it would be safe for him to at least access the energy. However the fact still remained that this was a gamble, if anyone found out that Naruto knew how to access Natural Energy they would ask how he knew and Naruto, if asked by the Sandaime Hokage, would point to Kurama as the reason he knew how to access the power. If that happened there was no doubt in Kurama's mind that the Seal would be locked even tighter than it already was, limiting it's freedom further.

Still this was worth it, over the millennia it had been alive slowly but surely Kurama had lost faith in his fathers words that one day all of the Biju would be brought together again but not as they once were and taught what power really was. Truly this was the last gamble for the ancient being the faith that it once had in those words had long since been stretched to breaking point by the humans that had perverted it's fathers wish. As far as Kurama was concerned the Biju had never betrayed humanity, humanity had betrayed both them and their father.

In the early days they had worked side by side however as time wore on they were view less as companions and friends and more as monsters as humanities fear of the unknown became more and more prevalent. Eventually the time came when they were attacked outright by humanity simply for existing and while they, at least at that point, could not be defeated by them the Biju chose to seclude themselves only moving when there was no other choice. Over the millennia they became known as monsters that destroyed cities, however whenever Kurama chose to do that it was when that city had festered with all the evils of humanity and needed to be wiped out. While the other Biju didn't have the same power to sense negative emotions Kurama firmly believed that their reasons were no doubt similar to its.

Now after all this time faith that had been on the edge of breaking point for so long had finally hit it. While the great Kitsune wasn't completely convinced that the whelp from earlier really could be the one the Rikudo Sennin spoke of really the Kitsune felt like it had nothing left to lose. The child was the reincarnation of Ashura the Rikudo's Second Born and the one that believed in Love as the true path to peace just as his father did and, unlike all of the other reincarnations, the whelp also contained a Biju that knew the kind of power he could one day wield and, even if indirectly, could help him attain it.

All things considered as far as Kurama was concerned the whelp was his last hope if he didn't pull this off then as far as Kurama was concerned his father had been wrong. The great Biju snorted eyes closing at it attempted to drift to sleep once more.

"**Placing my faith in a human child less than two decades old after millennia, by Rikudo's balls this really is ridiculous."**

**XXX**

"Naruto watch what you're doing!" The words came from the mouth of Haruno Sakura as Naruto almost hit her with a weed he had just pulled up from the garden before them for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto responded before going back to pulling weeds. It wasn't his fault really after all his mind was still fixated on the conversation that had happened almost a week ago between him and his, tenant the blond supposed was the best word.

After some deliberation Naruto had decided to try out the whole taking Natural Energy into his body thing. It had taken some time but eventually after almost five days of sitting still in training ground 29, only leaving for missions and to sleep, he had finally felt something yesterday. It was like light that was just outside of his sight, just outside of his reach. The blond was sure this was the Natural Energy that his tenant had spoken of, while he had been scared during their conversation, if one could call it that, Naruto had been paying attention and while Kyubi may not have noticed it itself the great Biju had let things slip.

For one it had, in a very roundabout way, told him that Senjutsu could enhance his skills as a ninja by enhancing his Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Well while Kyubi didn't say that outright it did at least hint at the fact stating directly that Senjutsu empowered human techniques.

More importantly however the Biju had let slip how to gain access to Natural Energy, by deep meditation and trying to become one with nature. Granted it had taken five days before he even managed to feel something but he was getting closer and that was the main thing.

Naruto was certain that if he managed to learn this then maybe he wouldn't need to see Iruka or Jiji about learning new techniques or how to train, honestly the Kyubi had been dumb enough to give him the break he had been looking for it was wonderful!

Not that he was stupid however, Naruto had taken a trip down to the library to check out what Kyubi had told him concerning Natural Energy and Senjutsu as things turned out the beast had not been lying or leading him on. The books he head read were very clear, Natural Energy existed, Senjutsu existed and those that were capable of using Natural Energy in tandem with their Chakra received a massive boost to all of their abilities and received the title of Sage. Once he had found that out Naruto had jumped straight into trying to draw Natural Energy into his body, if it wasn't for the fact that the Kyubi had almost destroyed his home years before and was indirectly responsible for his less than stellar childhood Naruto would feel the need to thank the Biju for it's contribution towards his chances of becoming Hokage. As things stood however Naruto simply pulled up another weed distractedly, trying to focus on the feeling he had the day before when he felt Natural Energy for the first time.

Watching his team from a distance was Hatake Kakashi, it had not escaped the Jonin's notice that Naruto was acting distracted but for now he had chosen not to ask or look into it after all it had only been for today and the kid may have had something on his mind. Honestly Kakashi had seen a very similar look on the face of his Sensei Namikaze Minato when the man was stuck with making a new Fuinjutsu technique or attempting a new form of training. All things considered it was most probably that Naruto was training himself outside of team hours and attempting to think of a new way to improve, or he already found a new type of training and was now thinking on how to refine it.

It was for that exact reason that Kakashi chose to leave the subject alone, he refused to teach Team 7 a Kami be damned thing until they managed to learn at least the basic values of working as a team. While that may be harsh the fact of the matter was that they needed to be able to do that if they wanted to survive on a mission where it could well be only their team mates standing between them and certain death, trust and the ability to work as a team was paramount for a good ninja as far as he was concerned. After all if he had believed in teamwork back then as much as he did now it was entirely possible that Obito would still be alive, that Rin would still be alive.

Kakashi slammed a lid on that train of thought he spent enough time at the memorial stone each morning thinking about what could be, he was not going to start now as well that would most likely just make him depressed. The silver haired Jonin looked at his blond student, he didn't want to teach his team anything until they worked out how to actually work as a team but then again unlike Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto didn't have a lot of the resources the other two did.

Sighing slightly Kakashi made a choice, while he would not teach Naruto anything new next Monday, two days from now, he would take the blond aside and help him improve his Shurikenjutsu. After all while his students may not know it he did stop in every now and then without their knowledge and check on how their training was going and when he'd looked into Naruto's a week ago the kid had been working on his Shurikenjutsu.

Mind made up Kakashi mentally reviewed some of the training methods for that particular branch of the ninja arts, he was going to need two scrolls to write it down on but by Monday he should be able to have two exercises for Naruto to work on in his own time. He would like to do more but doing this was already bending his personal rule of not teaching his team until they learned the true value of teamwork to it's limits so for now it would have to do. But when he really did start teaching them Kakashi vowed that he would do as much for Naruto as he possibly could, some may see it as favouritism but so be it. Jiraiya may have been his Godfather but Kakashi had been chosen by Kushina-nee to be Naruto's official Onii-san and while he may have only been able to watch him from the shadows as ANBU for years now he could make a real difference, even if he couldn't reveal their connection.

"Okay that should be enough for today," Kakashi called out to the releaf of his Genin team, well the visible relief of Sakura at least, he could tell Sasuke was also relieved but didn't show it and Naruto was still to distracted to care.

"Good job!" The silver haired Jonin added with an eye smile before making a handseal. "Alright I'll have the mission payment to you guys on Monday so you have a nice rest of the day and Sunday off I'll see you all bright and early at nine am sharp!" Kakashi said happily before disappearing using the Shunshin, time to get started on those scrolls.

Naruto didn't pay attention to either Sasuke or Sakura as he quickly ran towards training ground 29, today he might be able to pull off drawing Natural Energy into his body. Arriving didn't take long, they were outside the village walls as it was and training ground 29, while near the edge of Konoha controlled territory, was actually quite close to his current location. Naruto could feel his heart beating inside of his chest, it was hammering that wasn't a good thing he needed to be calm and composed to reach a state of meditation after all.

Deep breaths, in, out, one after the other an attempt to help calm his heart down. Naruto sat, his legs crossed, hands held lightly over either leg. It was the position for meditation that he had found in a book, granted he hadn't read past that point but all he needed was the basics. Blue eyes closed as the blond focused on what was within.

Naruto's breathing slowed further as his heart slowed down, inhale, exhale, control the flow of breathing that was step one. His body settled further as the blond allowed the sound of the waterfall nearby filter into his thoughts the sound of the crashing water his only companion inside of his own mind.

Another breath, inhale, exhale, the blond could feel his blood rushing through his veins, not because his heart was beating quickly but rather because of the hyper aware state he was entering. The sound of the waterfall echoed inside his thoughts, the next step was harder, emptying ones mind. He focused on the sound of the waterfall, the mission he had done today, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, The Hokage, Ichiraku's, Konoha, Iruka, everything was fed to the sound of the crashing water as Naruto dove deeper into his own mind while expanding his senses.

It was there, he could feel it, like light just beyond the corners of his vision, it felt warm like sunlight, he was sure that this was Natural Energy.

Inhale, exhale, Naruto focused his mind towards the energy that felt like sunlight, the crashing of the waterfall ever present inside of his own mind. At first it slipped through his fingers, like he was trying to grasp a greased kunai, but getting impatient wasn't going to help matters in the slightest, especially not for something like this that required his absolute concentration.

Inhale, exhale, once more Naruto reached out towards the feeling of sunlight, once more it slipped through his fingers. The blond stopped once more focusing on the sound of the crashing waterfall, was he doing something wrong? Kyubi's slip of the tongue hadn't given him the specifics of this after all and the book he'd read concerning Senjutsu just told him the abilities of the art not how to perform it. Mentioning that some Animal Summoning Clans would teach their Summoners how to do so but those Sage's refused to share the secret with others.

Considering that information it was entirely possible that he was doing something wrong. The sound of the crashing water echoed inside of his head. Perhaps this was a two way street? Did he have to open himself up rather than try and force the Natural Energy in?

Inhale, exhale, once more the blond reached out for the warm energy like sunlight as he opened the metaphorical door between his body and the world, becoming one with nature. This time there was no problem, the warm energy like sunlight was firmly in his hands permeating his body with its light, though Naruto was careful to limit the amount he wasn't sure if there was a limit that he could take in after all.

While he couldn't see it as he drew in the power Naruto's visage changed, the area around his eyes gaining red markings around them while his whisker marks thickened slightly showing the transformation of a Sage. Cutting the flow off after a second the blond stood, he felt more energised than ever! Like he could lift anything, be faster than anyone, defeat any ninja out there!

Standing Naruto took aim at the training dummy before him, unlike the one he threw shuriken at this one was a little more heavy duty meant to take the punishment of one practising Taijutsu on it in earnest. So far Naruto hadn't managed to do more than dent it so far no matter what he'd thrown, the blond was sure a Jonin like Kakashi-Sensei wouldn't have a problem ripping the thing to pieces even if Taijutsu wasn't their forte but he simply wasn't at that level just yet.

Inhale, exhale, time to see just how much this empowered feeling was real and how much was delusion. He charged fist leading, the blow impacted the training dummy far faster and harder than any Naruto had been able to throw before it, the snapping of wood was clearly heard as the top of the dummy was ripped free of the bottom by his strike and sent flying with a spray of splinters flying to land in the pond not five meters from him.

Well...Fuck.

"Holy shit," The words slipped out of Naruto's mouth without him meaning them to, but what had just happened had completely blown him away. The blond haired boy walked towards the pond to get the top half of his training dummy back before noticing the changes to his body, that was surprising but not very. After all the book had mentioned that the Sage's usually took on some kind of aspect from their respective Animal Clan when entering Sage Mode but since he hadn't learnt it from an Animal Clan perhaps these were markings that naturally appeared in his body when he accessed Sage Mode, the blond shrugged it off. That was the most likely answer after all and it wasn't like there was a way of testing that theory either.

First thing was first, he needed to put his training dummy back together, once that was done he could focus on the next thing. Figuring out exactly how much his Sage Mode increased his powers.

**XXX**

Inside of Naruto's mind the great beast known as Kyubi stirred. Twin red eyes opened and looked around contemplatively. Well it certainly hadn't expected that the whelp would manage to gain access to Natural Energy so quickly but then again considering how all of Ashura's reincarnations were always skilled in that area perhaps it was wrong to be surprised.

Focusing it's power Kurama looked at the power increase the boy had gained before sighing, it should have known something like this would happen. While the child had indeed accessed Sage Mode it was an incredibly base line version, doing nothing more than increasing his physical strength, speed, endurance and durability. Even then it wasn't doing to a huge extent, in fact if it wasn't for the fact that the whelp had the Sages Body, his powerful life force and connection to nature, the pitiful amount of Natural Energy he had taken in wouldn't have done a thing.

The greatest of the Biju let out a sigh, well it supposed that mastering a technique as complex and powerful as Sage Mode off the bat was a little to much to ask. After all it's container was the reincarnation of Ashura not Indara, and what humourless prick that one was. Yes little Ashura that always had to fight and train for every scrap of power that he possessed, considering that it was even less unsurprising that the whelp had not managed a complete Sage Mode on his first attempt. Still all things would come with time, given enough time and some more information on the technique the whelp could most likely complete it inside of two years, one year if he was lucky and really worked at it. All things considered that wasn't a bad time table after all it wasn't like the whelp was in any immediate danger still the question now was how to play the situation to it's advantage. Unlike before the end game wasn't to escape from the Seal it was to fulfil father's prophecy, to give it one last chance for fulfilment before Kurama gave up on it forever. Which meant it needed to play it's cards carefully lest the advantages it had already gain be lost.

Not much was really in the Biju's favour after all, all that had really been accomplished by it's previous actions was Naruto accessing Sage Mode, even if it was in a bastardised form. However this meant that, even if only subconsciously, the whelp would be more receptive to it's words, now the real question was how to deliver them and in what form for maximum impact.

Form meant nothing to a Biju after all.

Kurama like it's siblings was neither male nor female simply being a mass of Chakra, over the millennia it had taken both Male and Female form as a human in order to travel freely but truly Kumama had no leaning towards either sex as it were.

However with such a freely malleable form it could appear before the whelp in a number of different shapes. It's current form was out of the question, while it would make it easy to recognise Kurama needed to give the whelp another link to it in order to foster better relations, even if only subconsciously. This meant appearing as a human, more to give the impression that Naruto was seeing something almost no other human had and in a way he was, no other human had ever seen it transform before after all. But if the loss of that rather small secret was all it took for it to wield a measure of control over it's hosts actions then Kurama was more than willing to lose that particular secret. After all should it ever manage to get free for whatever, all that would be required was to create a different human form that Naruto had not seen before and it would be almost impossible for it to be tracked down.

Male or Female was the question now both had their ups and downs as a possible form.

Male was obvious, as another 'man' Naruto would hopefully feel a sense of kinship for it on some level allowing him to wield a certain degree of influence over his host and as it gave more information hopefully that kinship would turn into a sort of respect so it's influence would increase further.

The downsides were equally as obvious the first and foremost being that if it antecedently acted in a manner that reminded the whelp of bad interactions with his own side of the human species he could put him further on guard and actually reduce the amount of influence that Kurama already wielded over its host. Due to the main perpetrators of the stores that refused to sell to the whelp as a child, as well as throwing him out bodily a few separate occasions, being male this was actually quite a large risk still nothing ventured nothing gained.

Female also had an instant obvious upside, the whelp was an orphan and craved a mother figure. Granted the chances of him actually accepting Kurama as that figure consciously were slim but subconsciously was a completely different matter. This subconsciously action would allow it to expand it's influence so long as it offered up good advice and at least always seemed to have Naruto's best interests at heart.

The other upside of the Female form would not become apparent until he hit puberty. If Kurama took a sexually attractive form when the whelp became a hormone addled teenager it would not be a difficult task to increase it's influence exponentially if it played it's cards right. It was amazing what a human caught in the troughs of puberty would do, especially a male, to see a little bit of leg or a pair of breasts.

However this form also came with an immediate downside, first and foremost if Kurama overstepped its bounds for even a single instant it could forget about being able to wield influence over Naruto as a mother figure. Granted the plan could be salvaged in the whelps teen years but that would leave it a problem now besides if it went badly enough it could actually damage the whelps mental state and with humans being how they were Kurama had no idea of the amount of damage that could do.

Still once chosen and Naruto met the form could not be changed, if the whelp ever realised it could take multiple forms of different humans then that small supposed bridge of trust that would have been constructed would fall to pieces and everything would be set back to square one. That was something Kurama would like to avoid if at all possible, Kami knew that it's job would be far harder the second time around should something go wrong.

The great Biju snorted before turning it's attention back to the whelps Chakra, hmm it seemed that bastardised Sage Mode lasted around five minutes. Still against most enemies, and a complete Sage Mode, that should be enough. Kurama brought up a single paw and stoked it's chin contemplatively, a habit it had picked up from its father. There would be time to improve the whelps ability in maintaining Sage Mode at a later date, it did after all know a few tricks that Ashura used to use after all that could be quite the help to the whelp that was it's host.

Speaking of the whelp perhaps a gift was in order all things considered. But the question was what to give, he certainly wasn't getting Kurama's ability to Sense Negative Emotions there were some things that you just didn't give out without asking for a price after all. He wouldn't accept any training, not yet at least, more was the pity really. Being sealed inside two Fuinjutsu Masters gave Kurama a wide breadth of knowledge of the art, honestly speaking the Biju didn't know much about Genjutsu or Ninjutsu even in human form it's own abilities far outclassed that of ordinary humans anyway so there was never a point in learning their techniques.

Hmm, well that left Taijutsu the question was how. Kurama did have knowledge of Ashura's personal style but the question was how to get the boy to know it. He certainly wouldn't accept training which left Kurama with precious little in the way of options. Well it's Chakra was being siphoned off by the seal in minute amounts if it placed the memories in that Chakra it would most likely subconsciously imprint on the whelp. Granted he wouldn't actually get any better unless he actually started to work on his Taijutsu but his body would instinctually know how to attack and defend in certain situations which was more than that half assed academy Taijutsu style that he had at the moment had going for it.

After a second of deliberation Kurama added the imprint of memories to the out going Chakra, hopefully when he stated practising his Taijutsu rather than his Shurikenjutsu the whelp would be able to call on the half remembered techniques from his subconscious to improve. Kurama gave a shrug of its giant shoulders, either way until Naruto slept that night and it could draw him into the seal the Biju had done all it could for now.

Laying down Kurama turned it's attention back to the other matter at hand.

Male or Female?

**Ashura Chapter 1 End.**

**Note-**

There is now a pole up for Kurama's Gender, or at least assumed Gender, no this does not mean I am guaranteeing a Kyubi paring this means I am considering it and may decide to do or I may not.


	3. On The Road

**Ashura**

**Chapter Two: On The Road**

**Authors Note-**

The poll has ended, no I'm not going to say which one won, you're just going to have to wait until I choose to reveal it, which won't be for a while now.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter as well as the previous ones now that I've gone back and actually edited them, well bits of them at least I'm going to go over them again later.

Also I've got these two questions a fair bit so I'll answer them now for everybody.

**Q1: Would Information on Senjutsu really be in a book at the local library?**

**A1: ** The book that Naruto read had a general overview on Senjutsu as part of a chapter, as in the kind of things that were common knowledge such as Natural Energy and the increase of power one has when entering Sage Mode.

The reason that I believe that Konoha likely have a mention of Senjutsu in one of their books, or more than one, is that The Shodai Hokage, Jiraiya of the Sannin and The Yondaime Hokage were all Sages thus making Senjutsu not only more known in Konoha but more significant as historical fact.

It did not however contain specifics such as how to bring Natural Energy into ones body or the possible side effects there of, such as perrificaton and death.

**Q2: Did Naruto kill Sasuke to get the title of Friend Killer**

**A2: **No he didn't, he killed someone else to get that title.

Please enjoy.

Also if anyone was interested I passed that Black Belt Grading I mentioned I had back in the Chapter One Authors Note.

**Story Start-**

Blue eyes opened, once more Naruto found himself inside of what appeared to be a rusted out building however the real question was why he had been called here. Kyubi no doubt wanted something but the question was what exactly. Couldn't the beast have just let him sleep, it wasn't like his day hadn't been exhausting enough as it was.

After attempting, and failing miserably, to fix the training dummy Naruto had quickly decided to get himself a replacement and the blond knew just where to go in order to pick one up, The Konohagakure no Sato Shinobi Academy. Gaining the dummy from this location also had an added bonus, he didn't have to pay for it. Granted some would call that stealing but Naruto would argue back that he never got paid for dealing with Mizuki so it was simply recompense for that action.

Besides that Naruto had found two down sides to his Sage Mode, first and foremost was that it completely exhausted him after it's duration had finally run out. Not the normal run of the mill exhaustion he felt after a heavy Taijutsu based training session either, no this was bone deep, muscle spasm inducing, migraine creating exhaustion and it was also something that was most definitely not mentioned in book he head read. The small amount that had been there simply covered the basics of Senjutsu, what was commonly known, not what kind of weaknesses the technique had.

Slightly more importantly the exhaustion was a major concern to Naruto in another way as well. Quite simply put if the enemy he was fighting was able to last more than five minutes against his Sage Mode enhanced state he was a dead man since he would barely be able to move for a good ten minutes after the technique finally ran its course, this naturally led to the next problem with the technique, the lasting duration.

From the moment he gathered the Natural Chakra into himself to the moment it ran out was around five minutes, give or take ten seconds or so either way, but five minutes was a safe bet. The time limit made prolonged battle impossible, meaning that if he ever came across a situation where the fight would last more than five minutes then his most powerful weapon would be completely useless unless he wanted to be a dead weight after the time ran out.

All this allowed the young Uzumaki to come to one quick conclusion, simply put his Sage Mode was not yet ready to be used in battle unless their was nothing left to lose by doing so. Which was kind of annoying really, but Naruto wasn't going to let that stop him after all there had to be a way to increase the amount of time he could spend in Sage Mode, perhaps he should take more Natural Energy into his body? Would that help or was it a dead end? Well only one way to find out, he'd try it once he'd worked out what the hell the fox wanted.

Stopping before the huge gates blue eyes looked into the darkness, he was uncertain and afraid but Naruto wasn't going to let that show after all he was dealing with a Biju any sign of weakness could potentially get him killed and Naruto liked living thank you very much! Behind the gates a huge form stirred eyes as red as blood and filled with malice focused on the one before them as Kyubi stood to it's full hight eyes still locked on the one before it.

"**You attempted to access Sage Mode and draw in Natural Energy," **It was a statement not a question, the fox was not asking, it was stating a fact as such Naruto felt no need to nod his head or reply verbally but if the Biju found this to be insulting it did not show it.

"**Foolish little whelp," **The gigantic Kitsune growled out making Naruto start slightly with the malice contained behind the words while feeling a little confused, while the beast had been obvious in it's hate towards humanity it seemingly had a soft spot for Senjutsu and Sages so why was the feeling of hate around him getting stronger? Unless it didn't like the fact that it had given him the keys to getting stronger, well if that was the case to bad Kyubi had, indirectly at least, been responsible for ruining his childhood as far as Naruto was concerned the information about Sage Mode was the least it could have done to make up for that.

"**Tell me whelp, do you know the dangers of what you attempted to use?" **Kurama asked already knowing full well the answer to it's question.

"Dangers?" The word slipped from Naruto's lips, less than a whisper but easily picked up by the foxes ears.

"**Yes dangers whelp, did you truly think that a power such as Sage Mode would come without some kind of risk to the user?" **The Kyubi asked the ancient beast could almost see Naruto's mind working at a thousand miles a minute but chose to interrupt, the sooner they got this out of the way the sooner Kurama could proceed to the next stage of the plan. Still it was important not to rush it, rushing the plan could be just as bad as acting the wrong was once transformed.

"**Shall I enlighten you then whelp," **It wasn't a question Naruto could tell that much, Kyubi was going to continue talking whether he liked it or not. **"The price for failing to balance the Natural Energy inside of your body with the Physical and Spiritual Energies already present is death without question." **Kurama stated making Naruto go pale, granted it was lying but he didn't know that and the anger it was projecting would make the whelp feel like it was completely serious. If the whelp took in to much Natural Energy he would be knocked unconscious at worst, Ashura and his reincarnations were the only ones in existence that could make that mistake and live.

Still the words would make the whelp slow down his learning of Senjutsu which was a good thing if his power increased at a steady rate rather than an instant jump he would most likely not become conceited by his own strength which meant there was less chance of him being killed due to overconfidence in his own power, power that he had not even begun to master.

The Uchiha Clan were a perfect example of what happened when you became conceited by your own power. Within that cursed Clan many of the worthless scum truly believed that their Sharingan rendered them invincible against Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. While it was true that their Sharingan allowed them to copy the Ninjutsu of others it would be sub-par compared against one who had practised and spent time perfecting the technique, more importantly if the opponent didn't use the full set of hand seals copying would be impossible.

In addition to that while the Sharingan could detect Genjutsu a sufficiently skilled practitioner could fool even those eyes, this was even more true if one used a different vector to transmit the Genjutsu such as Sound or Smell. These senses that were usually not used for such a thing and as such if one was skilled in their use could fool a Sharingan user with ease due to the Genjutsu by passing they eyes and making use of a different sense entirely.

Taijutsu, while the eye did indeed allow one to view the world at a slower rate what was the use of that if ones body could not keep up with the influx of information. How could you defend if your enemy was significantly faster and able to manoeuvrer around the Sharingan users defence with ease or was so powerful that defence didn't matter as a simple connection was enough to win the fight and end the Uchiha's life.

Many Uchiha had made the mistake of thinking their eyes made them invincible growing conceited with their own power as a result and, much to Kurama's joy, ended up dead. It would not allow Naruto to walk that same path, partly because it's host reminding Kurama of an Uchiha would be an affront to the Biju and partly because Kurama was actually starting to believe that this plan had a chance in hell of working and that meant that the whelp needed to be kept alive, at least for now.

"**If you take in to much Natural Energy and do not balance it correctly then your body will begin to petrify until you are nothing more than a garden statue." **It continued, voice dripping with a mixture of hate and rage. The fear that made itself apparent on Naruto's face made it clear that the warning had been received.

"**To little and you will barely activate Sage Mode at all, your bastardised version is a result of this." **Kurama continued, time to give away a little more information, the boy wasn't stupid if Kurama laid out what a real Sage Mode was capable of as well as the true balance between Natural Energy, Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy he should be able to replicate it, eventually.

"**A True Sage not only has a physical enhancement like your bastardised version but it also enhances their Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and allows them Sensor like abilities that allow them to sense the Chakra of others, yours barely rates the term Sage Mode." **Kurama spat out, now came the next bit of information.

"**The proper regulation of Natural Energy, Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy is equal parts of each whelp!" **The Biju roared, allowing the malice and hate of it's Chakra to overwhelm Naruto. **"Your bastardised Sage Mode barely increased your physical abilities at such a huge risk! If you die then I die you vermin remember that! I will not die due to the foolishness of worthless human brat that couldn't dream to master the only thing that humans have that resembles what the Rikudo Sennin wanted, now get out!" **Kurama roared ejecting Naruto from the mindscape, those last words had been deliberate.

The whelp was prideful and loved proving people wrong, it's comment that he couldn't, not wouldn't, not might not, but **Couldn't,** master Sage Mode would be an insult to the whelp's pride. While pride could be a good thing it was also an easy way to manipulate someone, no matter the risks to him Naruto's pride would not allow it's words to go unanswered he would try and make his bastardised Sage Mode better, exactly as planned. It helped that the whelp didn't have any other Ninjutsu to practise though as if he had another option to become stronger he may have well taken a different path than the one Kurama was lying out for him, thankfully that wasn't a problem.

The two red eyes closed, it would not call the whelp in again for some time, if ever, the next point of contact should ideally be the whelp's. It would mean coming into the Seal of his own free will and that meant that he would want to bargain for something, most likely some Chakra, being a Shinobi was dangerous after all. When that happened it would display it's new form as a way of 'extending the olive branch' so to speak. The boy would most likely see it as Kurama putting some trust forward in their partnership not the truth of what it really was, the next in a long line of plans that Kurama had ready and waiting in the wings for the right moment.

The Kitsune was no fool it was playing a long game, it could take another twenty years or more before the whelp was ready to try and attempt to fulfil that prophecy that it's father had made, if he even could. Provided that Kurama didn't lose faith, or kill him for that matter, before then the Kitsune was prepared for a long wait. After all these were simply the opening moves in a game that potentially years, perhaps even decades.

It could afford to be patient.

**XXX**

The last few weeks had been interesting for Naruto, since his last run in with the Kyubi he hadn't returned to the rusted out building inside of the Seal but that didn't mean he hadn't thought about what had been said. The beast had given him another piece of the puzzle, the correct balance between Natural Energy, Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy, something that he would need if he ever wished to create a real Sage Mode.

Honestly speaking Naruto had debated on continuing his self appointed training in the art of Senjutsu but eventually settled on continuing his training. After all the Kyubi had told him he **couldn't **master the art and Naruto wanted nothing more than to rub his success in that fuckers muzzle. The fact that the fox would have helped him complete the technique would make his victory when the time came all the sweeter, it was only a matter of time.

Still even knowing all of that his Senjutsu hadn't actually gotten all that much better, in fact outside of another small boost to his physical capabilities it hadn't improved at all but with how dangerous Naruto now knew Natural Energy could be if he misjudged it slow going was preferable to death. However just because his Senjutsu hadn't made much progress didn't mean that he hadn't improved at all.

Thanks to Kakashi-sensei giving him some scrolls with tips for his Shurikenjutsu Naruto's aim was improving, while he wanted to ask for some more hands on training the blond rightly guessed that doing that was already stretching Kakashi's morales on not teaching his team before they learned the value of teamwork and kept his request to himself until such a time as his Sensei would do it, however far in the future that would be.

Still Naruto knew for a fact that his aim was improving with both kunai and shuriken, three weeks ago he couldn't hit the target from twenty meters any more than five times out of ten. Now thanks to the tips and training methods in the scrolls that Kakashi-sensei had given him Naruto had managed to raise that hit rate to ten out of ten and was even able to land both the kunai and shuriken even when throwing two at once, though he success rate was still at eight out of ten for three and five out of ten when he used five at once, Naruto hadn't even tried going higher than that. He would try from thirty meters when he managed to get ten out of ten for all of them, then rinse and repeat for forty and fifty but it was going to take awhile to get there, he really needed to thank Kakashi-sensei for those scrolls again when he had the time.

At that moment Team 7 was standing before Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage who was overhearing their mission report for the latest in a series of degrading tasks that Konohagakure called D Rank Missions. The elderly man looked serious, eyes narrowed, pipe firmly in his mouth, which was set in a hard line, the occasional puff of smoke coming out. However Naruto wasn't fooled by his seemingly serious demeanour, having spent a large chunk of his childhood around the man it was quite easy for Naruto to tell that, on the inside, the man was cracking up at their misfortune of having to take The Tora Mission for the third time that month.

Something up there hated him, Naruto could just tell.

"I see," Hiruzen stated after a second before thinking for a moment, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's former Sensei Iruka sitting at another desk in the corner processing the mission reports. "How would you say they are Kakashi-kun?" The elderly Hokage asked making Kakashi think for a moment before scratching the side of his ever present face mask.

What could he say to that exactly? His team was...passable he guessed, they hadn't really worked out the value of teamwork yet which was a big negative in his book but if one based it on individual skill alone they weren't bad. Sasuke had a good grasp on his Clans Taijutsu Style and basic Katon Jutsu, Sakura had a decent head on her shoulder and more theoretical knowledge in her head than the other two combined, though she was lacking in all other aspects. As for Naruto, while his Shurikenjutsu really had come along in the last few weeks that had really been the only improvement that Kakashi knew of.

The problems came when they had to work together, Sakura didn't respect Naruto due to the way he acted during The Academy and his constant requests for dates that had actually seemingly stopped recently, probably due to the kid focusing on improving his skills. Besides that Sakura's mental well being was seemingly dependent on Sasuke, a few unkind words in the right order from Sasuke would destroy Sakura, such was the risk of young love even if it only went one way. In addition to that she only really followed Sasuke around and unlike Naruto, or Sasuke for that matter, to the best of Kakashi's knowledge Sakura hadn't been trying to improve her skills as a Shinobi.

Speaking of Sasuke he didn't respect or like Sakura and he didn't like Naruto, though Kakashi could see the grudging respect that the Uchiha had for the other boy and that wasn't even mentioning the boatload of psychological issues that Sasuke had, man Itachi had done one hell of a job on his brother sometimes Kakashi wondered why Itachi didn't simply kill Sasuke, Kami knew it may have actually been kinder. As for Naruto he liked and respected Sakura but he didn't like Sasuke, though like the Uchiha Kakashi could see the young Uzumaki's grudging respect of the other boy.

Taking all of that into consideration it seemed like Naruto was actually the most well balanced and mentally stable individual on his team, not including himself. Kakashi took a second to process that information, the Jinchūriki that had a horribly isolated childhood from children his own age in addition to probably having repressed anger issues towards some of the village and that wasn't including the psychological damage said isolation undoubtedly did. Add to that the fact that Naruto probably had a somewhat dislocated sense of self due to not knowing about his parents, who they were, what they did or even if they loved him at all or simply abandoned him once he became Kyubi's Jinchūriki and Kakashi didn't even want to think about the mental damage that learning he was a Jinchūriki did to Naruto.

And despite all that Naruto was still the most mentally stable and well balanced Genin on Team 7. Wow he really drew the short end of the stick on this one all things considered, still it wasn't like he could, or would for that matter, back out now. This was his only chance to form a bond with his Sensei's son and Obito's last remaining Clansmen, Kakashi wasn't going to let that go to waste no matter what. Even if the chance of Naruto hating him after he learned the truth of his parentage, and he would learn it sooner or later even if Kakashi had to go against the Hokage's will and tell Naruto himself, was actually quite a real possibility. Still even taking all of that into account it didn't change the fact that Team 7 was a clusterfuck waiting to happen unless they started sorting out their shit and getting it into gear in addition to learning how to actually work as a team.

So in his personal opinion while individually they were passable as a team...they sucked.

"They're doing well Hokage-sama," Kakashi allowed after a second, it wasn't technically a lie. All things considered they were improving slowly, very, very, slowly but Kakashi had no idea how to make the three Genin treat each other as team mates and work together short of locking them in The Forest of Death for a couple of weeks where it would be work together or death and considering how they acted, death was actually the more likely option.

Kakashi could see the Hokage's eyes widen minutely, that was surprise meaning that the Sandaime expected a worse answer. Unsurprising really, it wasn't like the Hokage couldn't see the potential disaster that Team 7 was, or their seemingly unlimited potential for growth as Shinobi for that matter. That being said Kakashi had little doubt that the Sandaime had been watching them using his Tōmegane no Jutsu, the technique used the barrier over Konoha and the surrounding area to allow the user to see anything they wished inside of that area it was a technique apparently only known to the Hokage's.

This also meant that the Sandaime was fully aware of the problems his team was having to actually become a team, meaning the question was more than it appeared. He was being asked if he had a way to fix that problem and Kakashi had no doubt that the Sandaime had taken his answer to mean that he hadn't managed to think of a way to do that yet. However all things considered the elder man most likely had an idea to force Team 7 to become a real team whether they liked it or not.

"I see," The Sandaime said before looking out over the village for a second. Kakashi had been an ANBU that reported directly to the Sandaime for years and as such he knew his leaders habits, he had after all been the Hokage's left hand for years. Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin was the Sandaime's right hand, the one that existed to carry out his will under the light of day. Kakashi was his left the one that carried out his tasks under cover of darkness, the ones that could never see the light of day. It was because of this familiarity with the elderly Hokage that Kakashi knew what the Sandaime was about to say next hurt the old man, since it was quite likely to leave one or more of the people in the room dead before the task was done. That meant that the Sandaime was sick of waiting for Team 7 to come together on its own, something Kakashi didn't see happening. So he was going to force it to happen, and the way he was choosing was making the Genin risk their lives at times like that it was improve and come together or die. Kakashi just hoped that this Team 7 didn't go the same way as his own, Team Minato was down to just him these days after all.

"Then Kakashi-kun I would like to offer you and Tea Rank Mission, nothing to difficult just an escort mission from here to Nami no Kuni and then a protection detail until the man has finished building the bridge that he is currently constructing." Hiruzen said simply, the words that were said 'I would like to offer' it meant he had the chance to refuse but Kakashi didn't even know if he wanted to, after all it might be what his team needed. He didn't let it show on his face but inside Kakashi sighed, he'd take the mission because this might be the only chance Team 7 ever had of becoming a Team due to their personality clashes and psychological issues.

"That would be fine Hokage-sama," Kakashi stated after a second, he doubted anyone in the room except the Hokage himself actually picked up on just how nervous he was at saying those words, and Kakashi did include the seven ANBU in the room in that statement. The Sandaime nodded at him before picking up a scroll that Iruka was holding that seemed surprised that a Genin Team was getting a C Rank Mission after only a month and a half out of the academy, though he didn't voice his thoughts after all that would be incredibly disrespectful to his leader and the Jonin regarded as Konoha's strongest after Jiraiya and the Sandaime himself.

"Iruka-kun, please go collect Tazuna from his hotel room and bring him back here." Hiruzen asked, making the scarred Chunin nod at his leader.

"Of course Hokage-sama." Iruka replied before disappearing in a Shunshin, leaves falling to the floor the only markings of his passage visible to the Genin's sight. Naturally the Sandaime, Kakashi and the seven ANBU present in the room were able to mark Iruka's progress quite easily, noticing that he left by the open window behind him.

"Team 7," The Sandaime stated getting the undivided attention of the Genin before him. "You're mission will be as follows, firstly you are escort Tazuna, your client, to his home in Nami no Kuni, do not allow any harm to come to him. Secondly you are then to protect both Tazuna and his family from any threats until such a time that the bridge he is constructing is complete, if necessary you are to eliminate the threats to his life and the lives of his family. In return for these services you will each receive fifty thousand Ryo for your services.**(1)**" Hiruzen told the Genin before him making sure they understood the mission before turning to Kakashi. "Would you like to tell them what to bring with them Kakashi-kun?" The Sandaime asked getting a nod from his top Jonin.

"Alright my cute little Genin I would advise you to pack like this is a B Rank mission instead of a C Rank," Kakashi said seriously, the Sandaime had yet to tell him what he knew about the situation but with Kakashi's luck the mission was probably going to go from bad to worse so his Genin would need to be appropriately prepared. "It's always a good idea to be ready in case something go's wrong after all," the silver haired Jonin added explaining his logic to his Genin who all nodded seriously, it seemed even they understood the seriousness of getting a C Rank Mission. Thank Kami for that if they were playing around at this point he would be picking out what to place on their tombstone before all was said and done.

"That means at least fifty kunai and one hundred shuriken but if you feel like you're going to need more pack it. A first aid kit each, ration bars for a month." Kakashi advised before thinking of something else, "Oh and pack some reading material to, trust me you're going to need it on your off hours." The silver haired man finished before turning back to the Hokage who nodded and looked at the door.

"Bring him in Iruka-kun!" The older man called out causing the door to the room to open admitting Iruka and another man who looked far older, at least in his late fifties to early sixties. Rough grey hair on his head and a scruffy beard, his clothing was simple but durable for long trips, clearly this man had been away from home for awhile, or at least he had meant to be. Tazuna looked over the Genin for a second before snorting.

"This is what I'm getting for protection?" He asked sarcastically, his voice a mixture between gruff and slurred, probably from drinking Sake if Naruto's nose was correct. "Three midgets and a Cyclops." Tazuna finished, Naruto's first reaction was to yell at the man but the blond checked his initial impulse. Meditation, while certainly boring, had been good for his patience and helping Naruto get his temper under control, a temper that had flared slightly at Tazuna's words. Blue eyes flicked to Kakashi for a split second getting an almost unnoticeable nod in return.

Honestly after that introduction Kakashi was impressed that they all held their peace. The man had more or less called the Genin's skill and ability into question with his words, not to mention that though they were small most children took the word midget as a personal insult.

"Trust me Tazuna-san they will be more than sufficient to handle any bandits or such that could attack you on the way back to Nami, or any that may threaten your family once they get there." Kakashi assured the older man before continuing, after all there was nothing wrong with assuring the doubts of the client. "Besides should anything more dangerous happen then I will be more than capable of handling it, I have been a Jonin for over ten years now and completed many missions that were far more dangerous than this one. Trust me should anything happen my team and me will be more than sufficient to handle it." The silver haired Jonin finished seemingly mollifying their client as Tazuna seemed vastly more settled now. Kakashi turned his attention to the Genin still standing in the room.

"Head out and get ready, meet me by the main gate in two hours if you're late I will leave without you." Kakashi stated bluntly to the three Genin who left the room the moment the words left his mouth, Naruto stopping on the way out to say goodbye to both the Hokage and Iruka, Kakashi turned his attention back to Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san please get your things together and I will meet you by the gate in two hours." The sliver haired Jonin stated as the older man left the room followed by Iruka who was subtly given the signal to leave by the Sandaime. Kakashi turned his full attention to his superior ready to know what had been left out of what the Hokage had told him. The elder man closed his eyes for a second before opening them once more, his previously kind eyes replaced by stone.

"Shall we, Kakashi-kun?" The Sandaime Hokage said pointing at the chair opposite his desk, eyes hard. Kakashi simply nodded, his own eyes matching that of the man before him as he sat, it seemed there was much they needed to discuss.

**XXX**

Naruto, while not the most punctual of people, managed to reach the meeting place for Team 7 half an hour early. While packing the blond had realised one thing, his, incomplete if Kyubi was telling the truth, Sage Mode would most likely not be usable on the mission. After all it took him anywhere from ten to thirty seconds to access the Natural Energy and draw it into his body after that was done Naruto had to store enough to be useful, usually taking another ten seconds before the Sage Mode was usable, it was a problem he was working on.

Besides the problem of activating Sage Mode in a timely manner in order to make himself useful there was also another problem that Naruto had to be able to address when his Sage Mode was eventually seen by other Konoha Shinobi. After all it was a skill taught supposedly by Animal Clans that acted as Summons and he certainly didn't have a Summoning Contract with any kind of animal. So that meant one of two things, firstly he could either lie about it or he could tell the truth. Lying about it probably wouldn't be an option since chances were he was going to be hauled up in front of the Hokage to explain what was going on and one did not become a Kage without knowing when you were being lied to.

Which naturally meant that he would need to tell the truth, that Kyubi was the one to give him the idea, and indirectly the advice to enable it's use. If he told anyone that there was a very, very, good chance that not only would the Seal that held back the beast be tightened but there was also a very good chance that Naruto's own knowledge of Sage Mode would be sealed away, so it was the blonds goal to master Sage Mode before he allowed it's use to be viewed by any Konoha Shinobi so that he could prove that it's value was worth it not being sealed away despite who the advice to make it work came from. The blond honestly didn't give a flying fuck if they decided to tighten the Seal on Kyubi, he may have felt a small spark of gratefulnesses for the unintended advice and training that led to the discovery of Sage Mode but that small spark of gratefulnesses was a candle flame next to an inferno when compared against Naruto's complete and utter loathing of the fox.

One did not forget the thing responsible for their lonely childhood no matter what few good deeds that said thing had done to help, that was especially true if that help was unintentional.

The blond pulled at the pack on his back, it was full of everything Kakashi-sensei had told them to bring and then some, after all as Iruka had once said to him, it a physical impossibility to have too many weapons. In addition to that it also carried several different flavours of cup Ramen and a single book, not that he read much but this one had been give to him by the Hokage and apparently the main character had his name so it had to be awesome! Granted he found the title a little lame though, after all who called a book The Tale Of The Utterly Gutsy Ninja.

The blond looked up and saw that his team mates would be joining him, Sasuke walking forward with purpose while Sakura chattered away behind him, the blond felt a small flash of envy watching the scene. Of course Sakura would wait for her precious Sasuke-kun, Naruto shook his head, that didn't matter sooner or later he'd show her that he was the better one and then who would be laughing!?

Not Sasuke, because he'd be sad and Sakuraless, if that was even a word.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" The blond called waving enthusiastically making the pink haired girl sigh before she waved tiredly back.

"Good afternoon Naruto," Sakura replied before going back to pester Sasuke, while Naruto usually didn't learn from his mistakes regarding Sakura there was one lesson he had learned quite well. When Sakura sighed before greeting him it was usually best to shut up and not talk to her since she had the unfortunate habit of hitting him if he tried to talk to her to much, or spoke to her in general after that point to be honest.

"Ah excellent you're all here," The cheerful voice called out, Naruto swore his neck, along with the necks of his two team mates, almost snapped he turned that fast. There walking up to them in broad daylight, and completely on time, was Kakashi, and Tazuna but he was really a non issue at this point. The blond swallowed, looked at Kakashi before looking at the sky then looking back at Kakashi, an action that was mirrored by both Sasuke and Sakura.

Naruto quickly discovered that no, the sky was not falling, and therefore Kakashi being early was not a sign of the oncoming apocalypse, or if it was then the sky falling thing was bullshit, personally Naruto gave either of those answers fifty fifty odds going both ways. It was then that the blond did the only other thing that seemed sensible at the time, his hands came together in the first hand seal that The Acadmey taught, The Ram. It was then that Naruto flared his Chakra, Sasuke and Sakura joining in his effort as a single word was forced past his lips with determination, he would beat this, he would beat this no matter what!

"KAI!" The word was ripped from three sets of lips at once. They would do it, showing seamless teamwork they would completely lift this clearly half assed Genjutsu, after all anyone that spent even a small amount of time around Kakashi would know that he was two hours late for everything. So this, since it was seemingly not a sign of the oncoming apocalypse and the end of days, must be a bad Genjutsu created by their enemy, whoever that was, to fool them into thinking that Kakashi was on time so they would follow him and allow something nefarious to happen.

The silver haired Jonin took one look at his students, a look of disbelief would be plain on his face were it not for his mask and the headband that obscured his left eye. They had just demonstrated, and were still demonstrating for that matter, perfect teamwork the kind that would make him proud to be called their Sensei, were it not for the fact that they were seemingly trying to dispel a Genjutsu that wasn't there.

"KAI!" The three Genin yelled once more, flaring their Chakra further, hell Naruto's was starting to become visible, the silver haired Jonin looked to the sky.

"I'm not that bad am I?" Kakashi asked seemingly no one before sighing, time to set his students straight before they left, they had an important mission to go on after all.

**XXX**

"Kakashi-sensei," The words were spoken by Sakura getting Kakashi's attention way from his precious Icha Icha novel, this one in particular was Icha Icha: Restraining Tactics, same smutty goodness, new bondage tint. Honestly while Kakashi wasn't into that kind of thing himself Jiraiya-sama was truly a god amongst men to be able to create such a wonderful book about it, praise be to Kami! NO WAIT! Praise be to Jiraiya-sama!

"Yes Sakura," Kakashi replied, he was quite glad that Sakura had asked him now rather than in fifteen minutes, it was around then that Kakashi was sure he would be just starting on the best of the smut scenes in the entire book as far as he was concerned and it would have sucked to have that interrupted.

Heh, heh, Kiyomi-chan you naughty, naughty, girl.

"Do they have ninja in Nami no Kuni?" She asked on the inside Kakashi sighed, what were they teaching kids these days? Back when he was in The Acadmey it was a requirement to know every major village and every country that had a village and bordered Hi no Kuni. Really if these kids didn't know that much the standards must have slipped some, he bring it up with the Hokage when he got back that was really something that needed to be remedied.

"No not in Nami," Kakashi replied before deciding to put on an impromptu lesson for Naurto, Sakura and Sasuke's benefit. Granted it would mostly be for Naruto since the kid really did not pay a lick of attention towards anything outside of practical work in The Academy but he doubted that Sasuke could name the countries that bordered Hi no Kuni and had a hidden village, he also figured that Sakura probably couldn't do the same considering her question so they could all benefit really.

"You see unlike quite a few other nations Nami does not have a hidden village. The countries that border Hi no Kuni and contain one are Ame no Kuni that houses Amegakure, Kawa no Kuni where Tanigakure is located, Kusagakure no Sato is in Kusa no Kuni and right next to that is Taki no Kuni and their hidden village Takigakure." Kakashi didn't add the reason that, with the exception of Amegakure, Taki was considered to be the most dangerous of the hidden villages he had just mentioned due to their possession of the Nanabi, The Seven Tails. Rubbing his chin Kakashi thought back to the geography lessons that every ANBU was forced to take yearly.

"To the best of my knowledge Sangaku no Kuni does not have a hidden village," Kakashi continued, this was actually kind of strange considering the size of the country but still facts were facts. "Nor does Ta no Kuni for that matter," Though there had been that thing a few months back about Ta no Kuni changing it's name to Oto no Kuni for some reason but Kakashi chose not to mention that, after all this was a lecture on the hidden villages surrounding Hi no Kuni not an opening discussion on why a country would change its name.

"Yu no Kuni used to have a hidden village, Yugakure, but they demilitarised and then dissolved around ten years ago now." Kakashi finished, it had been a struggle not to mention Uzu no Kuni in his lecture, he'd asked Kushina-nee about it once and his honorary elder sister had taught him everything about it and Uzushiogakure no Sato, Kakashi got the feeling she just liked talking about her old home and of happier times than the recent, at that time, memory of its destruction.

In order to better protect Naruto against his fathers enemies, namely Iwa but hell Minato-sensei had pissed off a lot of people in the last war. Kushina-nee hadn't been any better Kiri, who had led a coalition of itself and four smaller villages against Uzu, were the ones to name her the Akai Kishin, Red Fierce Goddess, after she head hunted most of their ANBU's command structure and many of their higher ranking ninja when she was unleashed on them in the Third War. Things only got worse once they had done those things to Rin, Kushina's fury had seemingly doubled within three weeks of that event Kiri had more than tripled her bounty due to the amount of damage she was inflicting on them.

However because of this when for the last twelve years The Acadmey didn't teach of the Uzumaki Clan and their contribution to Konoha's founding, the reasoning for this was quite simple. If they taught about the Uzumaki Clan Naruto would know he had a Clan and even if the Hokage lied to him about that he may still look into the Uzumaki and while that would most likely help Naruto obtain a sense of personal identity it would also lead to the discovery of Uzumaki Kushina. Discovering Uzumaki Kushina would naturally led him to discover her husband, Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato and with the way Naruto acted that was not a chance they could risk taking, after all if he knew he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, hell if he even suspected, the blond would most likely shout it from the roof tops, painting a giant target on his back as a result.

While Kakashi understood the Sandaime's reasons for removing the Uzumaki Clan from The Academy's curriculum that didn't mean that he liked them. After all he had been taught all about the Uzumaki Clan by Kushina-nee and even knew some of their Fuinjutsu, hell after everything he and Minato-sensei had been through the woman told Kakashi that while she couldn't do it on paper due to the Uzumaki not being recognised as a Konoha Clan, something that she didn't manage to change before her death, Kushina had told Kakashi that while it couldn't be made official as far as she was concerned he was not only a member of her family but a member of the Uzumaki Clan something that Minato-sensei had fully supported. Though granted he had shut Kushina-nee down when she excitedly told Kakashi that he could always change his name to Uzumaki when the Clan was finally recognised as legitimate by Konoha, paperwork she was just beginning to complete at that point in time.

There was no Hatake Clan **(2) **so, in a way, Kakashi supposed that by ousting the Uzumaki Clan from Konoha Academy curriculum they had in some way or another harmed a Clan that he had been a part of, even if it was never made official.

Still he had extracted a promise from the Sandaime, which he made the man write down as an order to his successor should he step down before the promise was completed, that when Naruto was finally told the truth of his parentage the Uzumaki Clan would be added back into The Academy's curriculum, hell if he had to Kakashi would write the texts about the Clan, in a way his Clan, by himself, Kami knew that Kushina-nee certainly taught him enough about the Uzumaki to make that something that wouldn't be to hard for him to do.

"So all those villages have Kage's then?" Sakura asked, breaking Kakashi out of the silence he had been in since he finished speaking. It actually took a second for him to process the information, were they really not taught which countries had a Kage and which didn't? Oh man he really needed to speak with the Sandaime about this, that curriculum really did need a look at and quickly because from what Kakashi was hearing it had become quite substandard as far as he was concerned.

"No Sakura," He replied instantly, not harshly but Kakashi felt that he needed to get his point across about just how big a deal having the title of Kage really was, especially considering he had an aspiring Hokage in his team.

"The title of Kage is only give to five individuals in the entirety of the nations. In order to become a Kage one is not only required to be the most powerful Shinobi of that village but also have the sharpest mind so they can keep the village from falling on hard times due to political manoeuvring in the Daimyo's courts." Kakashi stated, his voice was one of a man stating the facts of what the world around him was, but underlying that was the hard edge of steel that forced his students to sit up and pay attention to his words whether they liked them or not.

"The only ones who have the right to the title of Kage are those that rule over the five most powerful hidden villages, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Kumokagure and Konohagakure. In Sunagakure they have the Kazekage, in Kirigakure," Even after all these years it was still hard for him to mention that village without disgust. "They have the Mizukage, Iwagakure the Tsuchikage, in Kumogakure the Raikage and finally as you already know Konoha houses the Hokage." Kakashi stated before continuing with a hard voice.

"In terms of military power these five men control the most powerful armies on the face of the planet." Kakashi finished before thinking of something else. "With the possible exception of Mifune the Taisho of the Samurai in Tetsu no Kuni who's military might is considered to be one of the most powerful on the continent." The Jonin finished before eyeing the way that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto seemed to look a little disbelieving at his words when it came to the Hokage.

"You're thinking something bad about Hokage-sama aren't you." The silver haired Jonin deadpaned making all three Genin wince guiltily, Kakashi had to hold in a chuckle but chose not to purse the issue, they would learn sooner or later exactly why the Sandaime was the most respected of all the Hokage's, with the possible exception of the Shodai, there was a reason after all he was called the Shinobi no Kami, The God Of Shinobi.

"Uh," Sakura's voice came out again, it seemed she was still curious about something. "Kakashi-sensei how do independent Shinobi get missions if they're not part of a village." The pink haired girl inquired, it seemed that the previous conversation about the villages had gotten her thinking on different types of Shinobi.

"Well Sakura that's actually quite simple the short answer is that they receive them from Bounty Stations, both the illegal ones and the legal ones." Kakashi stated as the group continued walking. "You see while many missions are sent to a specific village for one reason or another quite a few are sent to every village and to Bounty Stations since their owners don't care who does the job so long as it gets done. Does that answer your question Sakura?" Kakashi inquired as they continued walking.

"Yes, thank you Sensei." Sakura replied her brow furrowed in thought, it seemed that she had a few things to think about now. That was a good thing since if that was the case then Kakashi figured that he could get back to his book in peace, the silver haired Jonin held in a sigh. Or not as the case was, it wasn't difficult for the man to see the two puddles up ahead, really puddles? It hadn't rained in weeks, wow whoever was hiding in them sure wasn't putting much effort in, really he'd seen bad disguises before but this was just pathetic.

Well at least he would find out if the Hokage was right in short order, Kakashi placed his book away. Granted there was no way in hell that the two jokers in the puddle would be able to kill him but Kakashi refused to risk his reading material, after all risking something as valuable as Icha Icha would just be silly. Team 7 passed the puddle and Kakashi waited for the 'surprise' attack to begin, he wasn't disappointed, well he was because it was a failure of an ambush, hell he'd seen skilled Genin do better. Still everything went exactly the way he thought it would so he could at least pat himself on the back for calling that right.

The pair of Ninja that had been spectacular failures at hiding burst forth from the puddle to attack, in the split second that everyone's vision was obscured by the water Kakashi substituted himself with a Kage Bunshin, performing the Shunshin directly after to gain some distance from the battle to watch from afar, time to see how well his Genin could handle themselves against a pair of killers. A grimace found it's way to the silver haired Jonin's face, he recognised those two ninja, Gozu and Meizu a pair of Nukenin from Kirigakure they were C Ranked in the Bingo book and had a combined bounty of one hundred and fifty thousand Ryo, or seventy five thousand each that was dead, they weren't to be brought in alive.

However it wasn't the demon brothers that worried Kakashi it was who they happened to be working for, while the brothers alone weren't really worth much notice from someone like him who was considered to be a high A Rank ninja. Their boss certainly was, considering that Momochi Zabuza was also an A Ranked Nukenin with a bounty of thirty five million Ryo. You got that kind of bounty if you were not only a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist but also a master of silent killing and tried to murder a Kage, granted Kami knew that Yugura needed killing but that didn't make Zabuza any less dangerous, the Sandaime may have seriously underestimated the level of danger for this mission, hopefully they'd be able to take Zabuza down because if they couldn't, only death awaited.

Then again maybe he was over thinking things, it was entirely possible that Zabuza and The Demon Brothers had gone their separate ways after all. Kakashi didn't see Zabuza working for a pittance after all and even though Nami was a hub of illegal activities these days Kakashi really didn't see Tazuna having much more than a pittance on his head compared against the prices that a Nukenin of Zabuza's calibre usually commanded.

Gozu and Meizu rushed forward a long barbed chain between them connected to a pair of armoured gauntlets and claws. The two acted quickly their chain entangling his Kage Bunshin, it seemed the Bingo Book was right, the two Demon Brothers really were extremely proficient at combo attacks.

"One down," The two stated at the same time, Kakashi weaved the signs of a B Rank Genjutsu to sell the whole death thing, it appeared to work as the two advanced on his team Sakura was frozen but neither Naruto nor Sasuke wasted any time.

The dark haired Uchiha leapt into the air as Naruto snatched up a pair of shuriken one held between each finger on his right hand before letting them fly. It was obvious to Kakashi that Naruto really had been practising with those scrolls he'd been given since the blond's pair of shuriken slammed into the chain perfectly pinning it to a nearby tree. But Sasuke wasn't one to be out done, in the air the Uchiha palmed a pair of kunai before sending both flying towards their targets, Naruto's shuriken, the point of each blade burying itself perfectly in the hole at the centre of each shuriken ensuring that getting them, and thus the chain, out of the tree would take quite a bit of effort.

Effort that it seemed the Demon Brothers didn't want to expend, with a practised flick the two seperated the chain from their gauntlets and rushed forward. Gozu passed Naruto by heading towards Tazuna while Meizu made a B line for the blond looking to cut him down. Sakura called for Tazuna to stay behind her, well what did you know he might just make a Shinobi out of her yet. Thankfully though for Sakura, Sasuke, who was quite easily the superior combatant between the two, stepped in to save her from, what probably looked like to his students, certain death.

As for Naruto, well that Kakashi found far more interesting. Meizu closed in and the Genin's eyes seemed to go blank like he was looking at something that wasn't there. The claw closed in and Naruto shifted his left arm coming up as he weaved out of the way of the attack, his upraised hand grabbed Meizu and pulled him forward by the gauntlet part of his claw as the small blond stepped deeply towards Meizu's centreline. Right elbow coming up as Naruto shifted his weight forward and sent the elbow straight into the ribs directly above Meizu's heart, there was the sound of wet cracking, that, Kakashi knew, was the sound of ribs breaking.

Still considering how fast Meizu was running forward, if he added the force of Naruto's pull plus the step and weight shift, Kakashi honestly wouldn't be surprised if the small blond had just turned Meizu's ribs, and the heart underneath, into little more than pulp. He'd have to ask where Naruto had learned that later because that attack didn't look like anything Kakashi had ever even seen someone else do and yet it looked fluid and practised so he had to have both been taught it and practising for awhile, so many questions but he didn't have time to think any further time to stop Gozu, they needed information after all.

A quick Shunshin took Kakashi back onto the road from the trees he had been lurking in before, arm quickly wrapping around Gozu's throat and knocking him unconscious with a sleeper hold almost instantly. The silver haired Jonin threw a quick look at Naruto who was looking down at the corpse of Meizu. Kakashi could tell it was a corpse, his chest was still and he could smell the blood that was coming out of the man's mouth thanks to the internal injuries. Yep Naruto had managed to pulp his heart with that attack, not that it was an impossible, or even a difficult, thing to do. In fact the only thing strange about it to Kakashi was the fact he'd never heard or seen Naruto use anything even remotely like what he had just used to take down Meizu.

Honestly while Kakashi himself was very adept, a master even, in Taijutsu he was not THE master, that title rightfully belonged to Gai, who he would be quizzing once they got back about if he had ever seen something like Naruto's attack. Honestly Taijutsu was something that Kakashi had been looking forward to teaching Naruto since while he could use the Uchiha Clans Style of Taijutsu his own personal brand was a mixture of Kushina-nee's Rasen Saiko Kobushi, Spiral Crushing Fist, the Taijutsu Style of the Uzumaki, Minato-sensei's Hiraishin no Ken, Thunder God's Fist and the nameless style that he'd inherited from his father with a sprinkling of techniques from Gai's Goken and the Uchiha Clans own Geigekiki Ken mixed in for versatilities sake.

While Naruto may not have known it Kakashi had planed to teach his student the Taijutsu styles of his parents so that he would have something to connect to them, even if Naruto probably wouldn't know that either Minato-sensei or Kushina-nee were his parents for years to come. But now it seemed Naruto was already practising a Taijutsu style, which Kakashi found to be strange because every time he'd checked in on his student he was either meditating, which was weird enough for someone like Naruto to do but it would help him gain control of his enormous reserves of Chakra more quickly when they moved onto Chakra Control Exercises, or practising his Shurikenjutsu. Not once had Kakashi seen the blond practise his Taijutsu, so that begged the question of where Naruto had learned what looked to be the beginnings of a rather devastating style.

"Good work team!" The silver haired Jonin chirped happily making the three Genin look at him in relief. Thankfully Genin were trained to handle death so he didn't have to worry about Naruto freaking out to much after his first kill, no doubt Naruto would have a freak out eventually but it most likely wouldn't be until they got back to Konoha and he could do so on safe ground, Kakashi made a mental note to have Naruto booked in for a therapy session with Inochi just to be on the safe side.

After all mental health was very important to a Shinobi's well being so it was always advised that after a first kill and any truly world shaking events that the Shinobi in question seek out professional help so they could remain well balanced mentally. In fact Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Naruto took up a hobby once they got back to Konoha. It was something that the therapist usually advised as a way of the Shinobi in question having a sort of anchor to normality, in fact it was where his Icha Icha addiction had started.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked in disbelief, though Sasuke and Naruto seemed less surprised. Then again those two had actually fought him head on before and lost horribly. They probably figured that if they were able to land a hit, or in Naruto's case kill, one of the assailants that attacked them then he was most likely fine, because there was no way they would be able to kill Kakashi if Naruto and Sasuke were able to land any kind of decisive blow on them, such as nailing their chain to a tree, or killing one outright.

"You, your okay!" The pink haired Genin added happily causing Kakashi to chuckle lightly before ruffling Sakura's hair affectionately, he liked the kids, granted they wouldn't know team work if it bit them in the ass at this point but they were good kids, their hearts were in the right place.

"Indeed, sorry about that but I needed to see something." Kakashi stated before his eyes turned deadly serious as he finished tying Gozu to a tree. His single visible black eye moved on to Tazuna's form, the man flinching at the Jonin's look.

"You see I wanted to see who these two were after, us or him." The silver haired Jonin added stepping back from the tree, Gozu was still out cold.

"Huh? They were after Tazuna, why would anyone want to kill this old drunk?" Naruto inquired, before shrugging. "I mean if they just left it chances are he'd kick the bucket in a few years anyway." The blond added, being completely tactless as he did so. Kakashi would have liked to say that living with his parents would have made Naruto more tactful but tact was never Kushina-nee's strong point. Granted she could be subtle when she needed to be but nine times out of ten the red haired Uzumaki was about as subtle and tactful as a brick to the face. Minato-sensei had always been the tactful one out of the pair so it was entirely possible that had he been raised by them that Naruto would have learned tact from his father but somehow Kakashi doubted that would have been the case.

Sasuke didn't say anything, dark eyes cold as he looked at the elder man who was starting to sweat before them. It seemed that out of the three, Sakura still being in disbelief that someone would want Tazuna dead and Naruto simply wondering why, Sasuke was pissed that they weren't given this information in advance.

To his credit Tazuna didn't rise to Naruto's oblivious provocation, that said he still didn't say anything in his own defence either.

"An excellent question Naruto, why don't we find out." Kakashi stated before turning his eyes onto Tazuna. "We weren't told that you would be target by Shinobi Tazuna, that alone takes this mission from a C Rank straight up to a B Rank." The silver haired Jonin stated, if Zabuza was involved then they could forget B Rank this mission would be labelled an A Rank for sure.

"Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves and gangs until your bridge was completed, this go's outside of the mission parameters by a mile, more importantly it's endangering my Genin and that's not something I take lightly." Kakashi stated his voice cold, holding the edge of impending violence. "So you have this one chance to come clean with me about what's going on or I and my team leave, now talk." The words 'or else' were not said but every person there could feel them in Kakashi's words. Tazuna took a deep breath, eyes closed before they opened once more filled with resolve.

"I apologise for the deception but I had no choice." The bridge builder stated simply, continuing before any of Team 7 could speak up. "A very dangerous man is after my life, I have no doubt you would have heard of him before, his name is Gato."

"Gato?" Kakashi said questioningly before something seemed to snap into place inside of his mind. "Wait, do you mean Gato of Gato Company? One of the five richest men in the world?" He inquired getting a grim nod from Tazuna.

"Yes the same," The bridge builder replied.

"Why would he want you dead though?" Kakashi inquired, he knew from his conversation with the Sandaime that Tazuna had been lying about the mission but neither had know exactly how much had been lies and how much had been fact, they had both merely known that it was going to be more dangerous than a standard C Rank.

"Nami no Kuni is an island country," Tazuna replied. "Almost five years ago Gato come into Nami and persuaded the Daimyo to allow him to invest into the port, said he saw potential in it to create more business. Or at leasts that's the story, I wouldn't know it's not like I was at the meeting myself after all. At any rate at first everything was fine, Gato invested in the port just as he said he would and the money rolled in, the problem was what happened after. Slowly but surely Gato brought up most of the property around the port, those that wouldn't see went missing or had their business burn down. It was also around this time that thugs started making regular appearances in Nami, Gato called them his Security Force, saying they would help keep order in the port. None of us liked it but we didn't say anything as we were all still seeing profits, truth be told that was our second mistake, the first being letting Gato in Nami to begin with." Tazuna shook his head disgustedly, as if cursing himself for an action long since past.

"Then as time wore on we started to see less and less profits, people who spoke out against Gato started to go missing. Those who were in debt to the man were forced to sell their possessions to pay him or die, if you were a woman and owed money their was a fairly good chance that you would end up in a brothel to pay back your debt to the man. Naturally when all this started happening a small group of people decided to try and stop Gato, not that it did them any good, he publicly executed them, hell the only reason that the Daimyo and his family are still alive is to serve as figureheads, make no mistake if they defy Gato they will die." Tazuna continued before sighing.

"As for why he wants me dead that's a pretty simple thing really," The elder man admitted taking a quick sip from the Sake jug on his hip. "I'm building a bridge to the mainland meaning that Nami would no longer be dependent on the port for income and it would allow up eventually push him out by cutting his profits until it cost him more to stay than to leave, naturally Gato doesn't want that to happen so I've been marked for death. I didn't want to have to lie but I didn't have the money to pay for anything more than a C Rank Mission, I know it's not much but for what it's worth I am sorry." Tazuna finished lowering his head in apology. Kakashi couldn't help it, this time he couldn't keep the sigh inside of his head.

"We're in over our heads," The sliver haired Jonin stated looking up at the sky. Honestly knowing what they were going up against now he wanted to turn around and head back to Konoha. The Sandaime knew that this mission was more than a C Rank, Nami had been a hub of illegal activity for years and any one that tried to change that would be someone that people who profited from that illegal trade would want dead.

Which meant that from the second they had left the front gates of Konoha Kakashi had been expecting at attack by Shinobi, but he couldn't let his Team or Tazuna know that. After all the whole point of throwing them head first into something as dangerous as this was to force them to come together as a team but Kakashi had been expecting a mid ranked B mission at most. If Tazuna was telling the truth, and Kakashi hadn't been able to pick up a lie in the man's words, then he was being targeted by Gato who had enough money to hire dozens of Nukenin.

Before there was simply a chance that Zabuza would be involved in the mission after all it was completely possible that The Demon Brothers had split from the Kirigakure no Kijin but now Kakashi seriously doubted that. A man like Gato who controlled an entire country, not to mention a multi-national corporation that was quite literally worth billions of Ryo, would want to make an example of Tazuna. Zabuza's involvement was all but guaranteed now, since someone like Gato would be able to more than afford his fee.

"Kakashi-sensei what are we going to do now?" Sakura asked, she looked scared and uncertain.

"Well we're not just going to leave them!" Naruto's voice cut across before Kakashi could even open his mouth to speak, his words infused with a mixture of rage and what Kakashi could only call protectiveness. Not that he found that to be particularly surprising, after all Kakashi was more than a little pissed off himself. While he was an avid reader of Icha Icha the mention of Gato forcing women into brothels to pay off debt angered him something fierce and if it was just him Kakashi wouldn't have a single problem marching into Nami, Zabuza or no Zabuza, and taking Gato's operation apart, Brick by Brick, Ryo by Ryo, Body by Body. But he had to think about more than just him, Kakashi had to think about his Genin and while their lives were supposed to be on the line for this mission to force them together as a team, this was a little much for something like that.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei you heard that as well, we can't just let that asshole keep doing this to innocent people!" Naruto demanded, Sasuke chose to speak up next.

"As much as I don't like agreeing with the Dobe," The Uchiha stated drawing a growl from the blond next to him. "He's got a point, I couldn't live with myself if I just let something like this go." Sasuke finished, inside Kakashi was surprised. While on the outside it seemed like Sasuke was interested in little more than killing Itchai it seemed the younger Uchiha had a better moral compass than he let on most of the time, only time would tell if he kept them though.

While Sakura didn't say anything she gulped before nodding, eyes hard. It seemed all his Genin were in agreement, they were not letting this go. They were brave he would give them that, stupid granted, but brave. Kakashi sighed as he made his choice they were resolved, they knew they could all die, if that was the case then fine.

"Alright, we'll do things your way then." Kakashi told them getting smiles from all three before turning his attention to Tazuna. "However once Nami has recovered Konoha will be expecting payment in full for a B Rank Mission or higher depending on the level of danger this mission finally manages to accumulate." The silver haired Jonin stated, his words were not a question, Tazuna understood immediately that Konoha would be paid or they would have his head for failing to inform them of the true level of risk the mission would really entail and placing the children in danger.

"I understand and I promise that you will be paid in full as soon as Nami is back on it's feet." Tazuna said, Kakashi nodded before looking at his Genin.

"Alright then, line formation. Sasuke you're on point, Sakura next to Tazuna, Naruto you're behind with me." Kakashi stated as they walked away leaving Gozu tied to the tree.

"Kakashi is it okay to leave him there?" Sakura asked as the slowly left the tree and it's occupant behind.

"No problem at all Sakura, this route is often patrolled by Konoha he'll be picked up soon enough." Kakashi assured his Genin as the tree vanished behind a bend and the one eyed Jonin decided to talk to his most surprising student.

"So Naruto how long have you been studying that Taijutsu style?" Kakahsi asked his voice light, belying how much the sliver haired Jonin wanted the information he was asking for. A pair of blue eyes blinked up at him in a confused manner.

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei, all I know is the Taijutsu that The Academy taught us." Naruto responded simply, he wasn't picking up a lie, Naruto was telling the truth so how did he do that attack then. It was clearly well thought out and practised so it wasn't possible that Naruto hadn't done it before and yet conflicting with that assessment was what Kakashi's finely honed knowledge of detecting a lie was telling him, Naruto was not lying the kid really didn't have a clue what he was talking about. A split second was all it took before Kakashi decided to probe deeper, maybe Naruto really didn't know what he was talking about but there was something strange going on here and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"That attack you used against Meizu, it looked very well practised I was just wondering where you picked it up is all." Kakashi replied getting another confused looked from his student, again there was not a single sign that Naruto was attempting to lie to him.

"Oh that," The blond Genin replied a small shiver running up his body. Yep he was definitely going to have a freak out when they were back in Konoha and thus in friendly territory, he would make sure that Naruto got a session the day after they returned Kami knew the kid was going to need it, first kills weren't easy on anyone.

"I don't know where that came from Kakashi-sensei," Naruto admitted making Kakashi nod slowly, he wasn't being lied to but that didn't add up. Still there was no point in digging deeper right now, when they returned to Konoha he'd look into finding out if Gai had ever seen a style like it if yes then he'd get the man to show Naruto a few moves from it and see if he could jog the Genin's memory to find out where he saw that move before. If Gai didn't recognise it then Kakashi would have to dig for answers in another way because something didn't add up with Naruto's explanation, granted the Genin wasn't lying to him but still it didn't add up and he was going to get to the bottom of it sooner or later.

"I see," Kakashi replied with an eye smile. "Well good job none the less Naruto, remind me to help you out with Taijutsu when we get back I know a few styles that should help you out." He finished, his Team 7 would be a team after this mission or chances are every last Genin on it would be dead so Kakashi didn't feel bad about making that promise.

"Really Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked practically bouncing up and down with enthusiasm making Kakashi stifle a chuckle at the action before he reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah no problem at all Naruto."

**XXX**

As Team 7 finally vanished out of both eye and earshot the Kage Bunshin of Hatake Kakashi dropped from the trees around the dead form of Meizu and the slowly awakening form of Gozu. The Kage Bunshin drew a kunai, first he needed to extract any of the valuable information that Gozu had then he would need to kill the last remaining Demon Brother and seal both him and Meizu into a scroll before returning to the original.

Gozu wasn't leaving this place alive.

After all they couldn't cash the bounty unless he was dead.

**Ashura Chapter 2 End**

**Next Time: Sharingan no Kakashi!**

For the record using the conversion system I'm using 50 000 Ryo works out to be about 460 USD so really considering the Wave Mission probably took like 3 weeks in Cannon if you include the fact that Zabuza had to heal for a week plus the time it would have taken to actually fix the bridge and finish it once he was dead it's really not that much money for three weeks work.

I did actually try to find out if there was a Hatake Clan but that seems to be a Fan Creation so in other words in Cannon Kakashi apparently does not have a Clan.


	4. Sharingan no Kakashi

**Ashura**

**Chapter Three: Sharingan no Kakashi**

**Authors Note-**

Yo!

Me again, please enjoy and all of that kind of stuff.

Down the bottom of this chapter there is something I like to call Naruto Databook! This will be updated at the end of every arc to show increases in power to give an idea where Naruto is at over all. The numbers only account for basic Shinobi abilities not including Sage Mode or using the Kyubi's Chakra also new abilities may be added as time go's on as Naruto learns new things. For example he does not yet know Fuinjutsu however when he does start to learn Fuinjutsu will be added to the data book and the over all score.

At any rate please enjoy!

**Story Start-**

It was misty, that was not a good thing especially when your enemy was a master of silent killing. But if they wanted to get into Nami then there wasn't much of a choice but to make the crossing on a misty day and hope Zabuza missed them, because the last thing that Kakashi wanted to do was fight that man head to head on the open water where he could use his Suiton to it's greatest effect. Granted Kakashi also knew many Suiton Jutsu but he was predominately a Raiton and Katon user, having mastered Nature Manipulation for those two elements, still the point remained that if they had to fight Kakashi would not like to give Zabuza any kind of advantage if it could be avoided, that was just common sense.

Most Shinobi that reached the rank of Jonin and were predominately Ninjutsu specialists mastered two types of Nature Manipulation, though to the best of Kakashi's knowledge the Sandaime Hokage was the only man to have ever mastered all five types. Since Zabuza wasn't a Ninjutsu specialist like himself, instead focusing on silent killing and Kenjutsu, it was most likely that the man hadn't mastered a second type of Nature Manipulation. That being said it didn't mean that Zabuza couldn't use Jutsu from other elements, after all any Shinobi could use any element their natural alignment simply meant they could use certain type of Jutsu more easily and with more power, for example Kakashi, having Raiton natured Chakra, could use more powerful Raiton techniques with ease than a person that didn't have a Raiton Chakra Nature.

However he'd chosen to branch out and master Katon Nature Manipulation, as a kind of remembrance of Obito. Granted Kakashi's Katon techniques would never be as powerful normally as a person with a Katon Type Chakra Nature that had mastered Nature Manipulation but his mastery of the Katon Nature Manipulation meant that he could use Katon techniques with more power and using less Chakra than most.

The silver haired Jonin turned his attention to the structure coming up on the left of the small boat they had been riding in for the last three hours. The man taking them over could have made the journey far faster by using the engine but that would have defeated the purpose of trying to **sneak **into Nami.

"Wow it's huge!" Naruto exclaimed loudly making Kakashi flinch. The blond could be quite stealthy when he wanted to be, Naruto's ability to paint the Hokage Monument and hide from the ANBU was proof enough of that. However most of the time the word stealth didn't feature particularly prominently in Naruto's dictionary, after all the orange jumpsuit he wore was about as stealthy and subtle as a brick to the face.

"Hey keep it down!" The boatman hissed at the blond haired Genin, quieting Naruto immediately. Though Kakashi did have to agree with his students assessment of the bridge that Tazuna was building, it was excellently made from what he could tell, though granted Kakashi had more experience with destroying bridges than he did building them. The team went back to their personal thoughts for the next two hours until the boat docked at a small peer near the back of a village.

"Thanks Koysuke, I know the kind of trouble you could get in for this." Tazuna admitted guiltily, making the boatman shake his head.

"Just get that damned bridge finished Tazuna, that's all the thanks I need." Koysuke replied before shoving off and heading back out into the mist with not another word spoken, the group of four watching as his figure was quickly swallowed by the mist.

"Alright lets get going, my house is only a two hour walk from here." Tazuna informed the group of Shinobi as they set off, following the older man's directions.

Kakashi wasn't liking what he was seeing, signs of depression were rampant. Store fronts were boarded up and those that were still open had very little inside, the owners were probably barely making enough to get by. Kakashi had seen things like this before in villages close to the fighting during the Third Shinobi World War, to see one now when they were supposedly at peace sickened him.

The walk was made mostly in silence, his Genin, dysfunctional though they were, knew better than to talk when there could be assassin's about. Thankfully The Academy had managed to drill that much into them, considering the seemingly abysmally low standards the place seemed to have developed that was actually a pleasant surprise as far as Kakashi was concerned. Something shifted out of sight, Naruto didn't waste any time throwing a kunai towards the sound that drew his attention. Considering there could be assassin's around after Tazuna's life that wasn't exactly a bad thing but it seemed that Kakashi would need to drill it into Naruto's head that he should check his target before throwing, after all what if there had been a villager in those bushes.

"Alright lets see what that was!" Naruto said exuberantly making Kakashi want to chuckle a little, it seemed that Naruto was still Naruto even when the threat of impending death was hanging over them. The blond pulled back the bushes to reveal a white rabbit that had been stapled to the tree by the kunai, it was dead, a kunai through the heart would do that to just about anything. The blond shrugged a little, not surprising The Academy at least prepared them for killing, as a matter of fact Kakashi was fairly certain they used rabbits to do it to. Take a group of second year students into a room hand them a kunai and tell them to kill the rabbit inside of five minutes or repeat the year, or at least that's how they did it back when he was still in The Academy.

But there was something wrong, the rabbit was white. Rabbits, or at least rabbits that lived in colder climates, only kept their white coats as long as it was winter, winter had been over for a good half a month which meant the coat should be brown. The only reason it would be white is if the rabbit was kept inside as a pet, or as something that could be used for a Kawarimi no Jutsu in order to put those that found the rabbit off guard and think that the rabbit was simply a small woodland creature that they had mistaken as a threat. Kakashi's mind assembled the presented facts in a split second, it wasn't that Zabuza was coming.

Zabuza was already here.

Fuck.

A whooshing sound cut through the air, the sound of a blade moving at high speed after being thrown but this blade was far larger than a kunai, that Kakashi could tell from the amount of sound it was making. This attack was a warning shot, meant to make an impression and not to kill. A Shinobi of Zabuza's calibre wouldn't make the mistake of throwing a large weapon if he wanted to kill, he had to know that a Jonin, hell even a Chunin, would pick it up and dodge.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" The Jonin yelled tackling Tazuna to the floor, his Genin didn't question the order simply falling straight down. Above their heads, less than a second later, a huge cleaver split the air, had any still been standing they would have been bisected by the huge blade with ease. Kakashi could instantly identify the sword, Kubikiribōchō one of Kirigakure's treasures, a blade that was capable of absorbing blood from the enemies that were killed by it to repair any damage done to the sword. Thus keeping it eternally in shape and just as sharp as if the blade had only been forged yesterday. That much information you could get by reading Zabuza's profile in any Bingo Book posted in the Five Nations.

A man landed on the sword a split second later, he was tall, but only a couple of centimetres above Kakashi's own five foot nine. He was definitely heavier though, most likely due to the extra muscle mass from having to swing around the Kubikiribōchō. Bandages were wrapped around his face and he wore a simple pair of pants, arm warmers, though he was shirtless and black sandals, this was Zabuza the Kirigakure no Kijin, The Demon of the Mist. The fact he was showing himself after that failed attack told Kakahsi one thing, Zabuza wanted to talk rather than fight, that was a good thing since it meant there was a small chance this could end without bloodshed, but somehow Kakashi doubted that would happen.

"Ah, Sharingan no Kakashi, no wonder The Demon Brothers failed." Zabuza stated simply, it was expected after all if he had known that Kakashi was involved in advance he would have never sent Gozu and Meizu, it would simply have been a waste of life and he needed all his pawns for what was to come when they returned to Mizu no Kuni.

At the word Sharingan Sasuke looked shocked, not that Naruto or Sakura were any better. The Uchiha and Senju Clans were taught about extensively in The Academy so their traits were well known. Therefore it was no wonder that they were extremely confused by the fact that Kakashi had a Sharingan, since no one outside of the Uchiha Clan should possess one.

"Hmm, well I would prefer not to have to fight you if it could be avoided." Zabuza admitted, Kakashi didn't see that as a sign of weakness, that was common sense. Both Zabuza and he were A Rank Ninja in the Bingo Book, if they were to clash one of them would die and there was no way of knowing who it would be until the dust settled. That said Kakashi also had to acknowledge that he was at a disadvantage if they came to blows, unlike Zabuza he had to worry about protecting his Genin and the client, that was something that Zabuza didn't have to be concerned about.

"Well then why don't we talk about this then?" Kakashi offered getting a nod from the Nukenin above, he didn't mind talking either way. If things went well then there was a good chance that he wouldn't need to engage Zabuza near his Genin and put them in an incredible amount of danger. If things went poorly and they ended up fighting anyway, well at least Kakashi could use the time they talked to concoct various strategies to hopefully allow him to win their life or death battle with minimal injuries.

"Fair enough," Zabuza replied before pointing at Tazuna behind them. "Give me the old man and I'll be on my merry way, no need for you, me or you brats to die Kakashi." The Nukenin stated, well he was quick and to the point if nothing else.

"You know I can't do that Zabuza," The silver haired Jonin replied bluntly making the bandaged man nod in reply, Zabuza knew that answer was coming but he had to ask.

"Well then we are at an impasse it seems." The former member of The Seven Swordsmen replied voice light.

"Why do you want to kill Tazuna anyway? He's just an old drunk, leave him alone!" That was Naruto, Kakashi sighed, well that killed the mood but if he was lucky it would get Zabuza talking and give him more time to plan. The bandaged Nukenin looked down at the orange wearing blond before shrugging.

"Do you know what's going on in Mizu no Kuni right now Gaki?" Zabuza's gruff voice asked as he shifted his weight slightly, seeing Naruto shake his head made the man laugh humourlessly. "I see, you must be green as fucking grass then rookie! Since any Shinobi that's been active for more than six months would know." Zabuza sighed, rubbing his temples before continuing.

"At the moment the Mizukage is conducting a civil war against all Kekkei Genkai Clans, a Blood Purge I believed he called it, they aren't taking any prisoners. Men, women, children, all butchered ruthlessly by the soldiers of a madman." Zabuza stopped for a second looking at the faces of the Genin before him, twisted in disgust and horror at what they were hearing. Kakashi would wager good Ryo that Sasuke was thinking back to the night of the Uchiha Massacre, great that was just what he needed.

"I'm not a good person, but even I know that kind of shit is wrong." The Nukenin stated seriously with a shake of his head. "But naturally the Kekkei Genkai Clans aren't going to go quietly, they formed a resistance, an army that opposes the Mizukage. However they aren't exactly well funded or equipped. Just when the Blood Purge was beginning to happen I took my shot at killing the Mizukage, a bastard by the name of Yagura considering that I'm a Nukenin now it should be obvious to you that I failed." Zabuza stated simply, the Genin didn't nod or react by the swordsman continued talking.

"Now I'm out here hunting for the next big pay day so I can bring some money back to the resistance and hopefully put us back on even terms with the Mizukage's army." Zabuza finished, there hadn't been any anger or passion in his speech. The words Zabuza was speaking were the words of a man that was simply stating historical fact, there was no doubt in Kakashi's mind that the man was still furious at the fact he failed to kill the Mizukage but a good Shinobi didn't give the enemy an opening by showing an emotion like anger and Zabuza was most definitely above just being a merely 'good' Shinobi.

One did not become a member of The Seven Swordsman just by being 'good' after all.

"So you're going to doom an entire country for money!?" Naruto yelled back making the bandaged man rub the back of his head with a sigh.

"Yes," Zabuza replied bluntly. "Look kid you might live in the world of sunshine and rainbows but the rest of us live in reality." The Demon of the Mist stated, his voice taking on a slight growl as he spoke. "Nami no Kuni has a grant total of about ten thousand people living in it, Mizu no Kuni has already had over twenty thousand die during these purges if you account for both sides and civilian casualties. Unless that fighting stops soon more are going to die. You can believe all you want but wanting to help just doesn't cut it. The Mizukage's forces are larger, better equipped, have more strongholds and land than the resistance does. In order to match that we need the money to become as well equipped and pay for merchants to start running supply lines to our strongholds so that we don't starve. You can bitch and moan all you like but Gato's money for killing that old man will pay for that, yes a Nation of ten thousand will suffer horrifically, most likely for the next five to ten years before they get fed up and revolt. At which point Gato will be fucked due to the massive discrepancy in size between his own forces and the amount of citizens in Nami." Zabuza admitted before continuing.

"However in exchange for that Mizu no Kuni, a nation with a significantly larger population that has already been suffering for the last ten years under the horrors of cival war, may be saved in the next year or two without the Kekkei Genkai Clans being purged. You can have as many ideals as you want brat but at the end of the day I'm going to do what I have to do in order to stop that madman Yagura and reality dictates that I need money to do that, so the old man has to die." Zabuza finished cracking his neck from side to side.

"Enough talking, Kakashi are you going to hand over the old man or are we going to have to fight this out." Even though it was clear that Zabuza would have rather not risked death, Kakashi could hear it in the man's tone, he was eager to fight. The Demon of the Mist wanted to find out who was the better ninja, he or Sharingan no Kakashi one of the most powerful Shinobi that Konohagakure had ever produced, son of Hatake Sakumo,Konoha no Shiroi Kiba. To be honest Kakashi kind of wanted to find out himself, a small grin made itself known beneath his face mask.

"It's not like I don't understand your position," Kakashi admitted eyes hard as he reached up to his head band. "But you know just as well as I do that I'm not going to let you kill Tazuna." The silver haired Jonin stated getting a shrug from the Nukenin before him.

"Fine then," Zabuza replied jumping from his blade, ripping it from the tree as he did so, and landing of the lake before Team 7. "Have it your way," The former member of the Seven Swordsmen added, arms coming up in a distinctive hand seal. Kakashi pulled up his headband, revealing his Sharingan to the world once more. He couldn't afford to hold back here unless he wanted to die, the silver haired man could see the smile behind Zabuza's bandages.

"The Sharingan huh? I'm honoured," The Nukenin stated before his voice turned feral. "Now lets see how your Dojutsu handles this, Kirigakure no Jutsu." At Zabuza's words the world began to turn white, Kakashi hated this technique, every fucking Kiri Shinobi knew how to do it and it was always a pain to deal with. Granted a high powered Futon: Daitoppa could blow the mist away for a short time, but that was exactly the point,** for a short time**, realistically you were stuck inside the mist until the user decided to let it drop or couldn't maintain it any longer for whatever reason and when that user was someone like Zabuza who was a master of silent killing, that was a very bad thing.

Naruto shook his head, his breathing sped up slightly. But it was by no means the heaving swallows of air that Sasuke and Sakura were taking. It looked like he had to thank the Fur Ball for something again, not that anything was ever going to pry that thank you out of his mouth. If it wasn't for the fact that he had been exposed to Kyubi's Killing Intent he would have been trembling just as much as Sasuke and Sakura were from the Intent that the two Jonin were leaking. That being said it wasn't like he was going to be able to do much even though he could move more freely than either of his team mates. The Kirigakure no Jutsu had completely enveloped the area and Naruto hadn't practised moving in this kind of environment before, even if he tried to help chances were that he would be worse than useless to Kakashi-sensei, he would be a liability.

"Eight points," Zabuza's words echoed through the mist, putting Naruto further on edge. "The Larynx, Spinal Cord, Lungs, Liver, Kidney's, Jugular Vein, Femoral Artery and finally The Heart. Do any of you have a preference on how you would like to die?" The Demon of the Mist spoke not like a man about to kill people but rather like someone reciting a shopping list, their deaths literally didn't mean anything to him, Naruto gulped his throat all of a sudden very dry.

"Don't worry, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto," Kakashi's words flowed over the group like soothing water as the familiar feeling of the older man's Chakra helped abate the Killer Intent still all around them. "I won't let my comrades die," The silver haired Jonin stated, his words hard with conviction, Naruto was one hundred percent sure that Kakashi planed on sticking by what he just said no matter what.

"That so?" Zabuza's voice asked, from the centre of Team 7's three point formation. Naruto's blood ran cold, he spun kunai coming up in front of him to ward off what would most likely be a fatal blow. The Demon of the Mist was already turning to strike Tazuna down even as Naruto spun to face him, "It's over!" Zabuza yelled, Naruto didn't know what to do, he couldn't move to stop the attack in time, he simply wasn't fast enough.

Like lighting Kakashi was there between Zabuza and Tazuna, left arm shaking but holding back back Zabuza's arms, stopping his zanbato before it could even start to swing towards Tazuna. Naruto had no idea how Kakashi could have moved that fast, hell he didn't even manage to see the silver haired Jonin cross the distance at all. Kakashi obviously wasn't finished though because clutched tightly in his hand was a kunai that he shoved into Zabuza's chest with ruthless efficiency. Naruto could tell instantly, from that angle the blade would have slipped through the ribs and taken out the Nukenin's heart in a single blow. Quick, ruthless and efficient, it was a textbook killing blow that every Genin was taught back in The Academy. But to see it done so fast and with such precision really brought home just how devastating the attack could really be.

The sound of water hitting the ground sounded, blue eyes were instantly drawn to Zabuza where the sound was originating from. The cut that Kakashi had placed into the Nukenin's body was leaking water not blood, what the hel-, was as far as Naruto's thought process made it before the Zabuza before them dissolved into water. He recognised that, it looked similar to when his Kage Bunshin were dispelled, was that an elemental variation? A Mizu Bunshin as it were? Did something like that actually exist? The blond didn't even have time to cry out in surprise and fear for his Sensei when Zabuza appeared in Kakashi's blind spot, blade already pulled back ready to strike. This time the Nukenin didn't make any comment simply swinging the massive cleaver with deadly force bisecting Kakashi at the waste.

Naruto was horrified, his Sensei was dead, granted he hadn't known Kakashi for that long but still the silver haired Jonin had helped him out a lot and now he was gone. However just as shock and horror were beginning to turn to anger Kakashi, much like Zabuza before him, dissolved into water. The blonds mind put it together instantly, he might not be one for books but his ability to analyse a battle was better than anyone else's, with the possible exception of Shikamaru.

'Kakashi' was never really Kakashi at all, simply a Mizu Bunshin designed to draw Zabuza out of hiding. But when did he make the Bunshin, Naruto hadn't seen him do it at all. No better yet when did Kakashi copy the technique, the blond was well aware of the Sharingan's visual prowess but to do so in such thick mist was crazy, was this the level of a Jonin!? Behind Zabuza Kakashi appeared the standard issue kunai in his hand hooked around Zabuza's throat ready to kill the Nukenin in an instant.

"Don't move," The silver haired Jonin's words were ice cold. There was no doubt in any of the Genin's minds that Kakashi fully planned to kill Zabuza if he didn't comply with what was asked of him. The Kirigakure no Kijin chuckled slightly before shrugging eyes wide with excitement, it was plain to see that while Zabuza may have originally not wanted to fight he was enjoying every single second of it.

"Guess I'll have to try harder," Zabuza stated before slitting his own throat on the kunai, throwing all the Genin for a loop. Kakashi however was not fooled, dropping to the floor as soon as the Mizu Bunshin did so and thus barely avoiding receiving Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō to the back of his neck, a blow that would have taken his head clean off of his body. Zabuza spun using the force from his swing to twist into a powerful kick, Kakashi turned and blocked with his forearm, dodging would have been a better choice but he couldn't do that from the position that Zabuza had placed him in.

The silver haired Jonin was pushed back several feet by the attack, Zabuza wasn't one to waste time charging back in with his blade ready to finish the job. Kakashi's right arm blurred, throwing his kunai forward, forcing Zabuza to slow down to deflect the flying projectile that otherwise would have taken his left eye. Kakashi didn't let the precious half second that his attack had brought him go to waste, drawing out a pair of kunai he charged forward blades in hand. Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō came down, the twin kunai were crossed forming an X that the massive sword slammed into with bone crushing force, Kakashi's arms buckled slightly but they didn't give way. He was lucky that he'd sparred against Gai for so many years or else handling so much raw physical power may have shaken him.

The sliver haired Jonin forced the blade to the side and engaged Zabuza up close with his kunai, a range where the small blades were far more effective that the large Zanbato. Zabuza didn't bother trying to break range, the former Kiri Nin was experienced enough to know that it wasn't something that Kakashi was going to let him do. Zabuza abandoned his blade settling for Taijutsu instead, honestly it was his second best skill in the Shinobi Arts as it was. As a rule most Shinobi that specialised in Kenjutsu, or weapons in general for that matter, were also exceptional at Taijutsu for the simple reason that if they were disarmed then they needed to be able to survive and thrive at close range. Any weapon user worked that out sooner or later, or they died, and Zabuza had long since become more than proficient at Taijutsu. In fact before he'd began his training as one of the Seven Swordsman he had primarily been a Taijutsu specialist.

The first slash from Kakashi's kunai were deflected by a pair of fast hands, Zabuza sending the first one low while deflecting the second up above his head. The Kirigakure no Kijin didn't rest though, sending a punishing kick at Kakashi's left knee in return, the aim was simple, break his knee then when Kakashi was crippled break his neck. Kakashi however didn't stay still, the silver haired Jonin twisted avoiding the blow, Kakashi spun the kunai in his left hand so the point was down and stabbed towards Zabuza's jugular while his second kunai slashed back across aiming to spill the Demon of the Mist's guts across the floor.

Zabuza however wasn't an inexperienced Shinobi and saw the move coming a mile away. The former Kiri Nin's left hand slapped the kunai coming for his stomach away while his right rose stopping the descending blade before it could pierce Zabuza's throat and end his life. Zabuza grabbed Kakashi's left wrist tightly and twisted pulling the silver haired Jonin forward and transferring hands so that his left was gripping Kakashi's left wrist. Zabuza lashed out with his right arm collecting Kakashi across the chest as the silver haired Jonin turned to avoid having his neck broken by the strike. Zabuza didn't stop his manoeuvrer however, right leg coming forward and kicking Kakashi's supporting leg out from under him dropping the other man to the ground while a deft twist of Zabuza's wrist allowed him to take Kakashi's kunai and turn it into his weapon, without a single seconds hesitation he stabbed down aiming to pierce Kakashi's throat and end the Konoha Nin's life in a single blow.

Kakashi just didn't decide to lay down and die though, the silver haired Jonin kicked off the ground hard, using Zabuza's hand that was still clutching his wrist as a pivot point Kakashi managed to swing himself away from the blow, Zabuza's stolen kunai burring itself into the hard packed ground rather than Kakashi's chest. The silver haired Jonin wasn't done though, using the force of his twist Kakashi placed booth feet on Zabuza's side before kicking off and freeing himself from the Nukenin's grip in a single move. Rolling over his shoulder Kakashi came to his feet in time to meet Zabuza's rush, the Nukenin bringing his kunai down at the silver haired Jonin's head once more. Kakashi's own blade meeting the stolen weapon in a shower of sparks, the two A Ranked Shinobi strove against each other, Kakashi had more speed but Zabuza definitely had more strength, he needed an opening the question was how to create one.

The final drops of water from the Mizu Bunshin hit the floor, the entire exchange had taken less than five seconds.

Zabuza twisted trying to stab his kunai into Kakashi's liver, the silver haired Jonin countered with his own kunai. The connection was bad on both ends forcing the two to discard the weapons as the attacked rattled the bones in their hands. Zabuza immediately went on the offence with Taijutsu, a hard punch came in at Kakashi's head, the silver haired Jonin immediately countered. His left hand deflected Zabuza's strike out wide the Kakashi pivoted starting at the ball of his foot the silver haired Jonin began to turn adding the power of his lower body, hips, abdomen and back muscles in addition to just his normal arm strength to his strike. The punch impacted Zabuza's side and Kakashi felt two ribs give under the blow as his enemy was sent flying back.

That strike contained the basics of the Rasen Saiko Kobushi, Kushina-nee's Taijutsu Style. Like most things from the Uzumaki it was based around spirals, mostly using spiralling movement to enhance things like blocks and strikes. It was an excellent style that complemented Minato-sensei's Hiraishin no Ken, which favoured quick and heavy strikes before retreating out of range, very, very, well.

The problem arose when Kakashi realised just where his strike had sent Zabuza to, his punch had forced the Nukenin back to his Kubikiribōchō. Instead of picking it up the blade Zabuza's hands began to fly through hand seals at a pace that most would be hard pressed to match. Having seen the attack before Kakashi knew he didn't have time to dodge, just to block.

"**Suiton: Mizurappa**," Zabuza yelled a wave of water pouring from his mouth as he did, obscuring the vision of all.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" The first words his Genin had spoken in awhile but Kakashi could clearly hear all of his Genin's voices, even Sasuke's. The silver haired Jonin felt his breath leave his lungs as he hit the water of the lake behind them hard.

Shit that hurt. Kakashi struggled to get back on top of the water as a presence appeared behind him, he could feel Zabuza.

"**Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu!**" Zabuza commanded as the water prison formed around the downed Konoha Jonin. "It's over Kakashi!" The Demon of the Mist stated, his voice was gruff but it was easy for Kakashi to hear the satisfaction inside of it. The silver haired Jonin looked at the arm inside of his prison and smiled, both eyes crinkling as he did so.

"That so?" Kakashi said echoing Zabuza's words from earlier and setting off every alarm bell inside of the Nukenin's head but it was already to late. Kakashi's form shifted and electrified, Zabuza knew immediately what he had trapped was, a Raiton Kage Bunshin but when had Kakashi had the chance to make one of those? No wait, the Mizurappa? Did he hide his creation of the Kage Bunshin when he was hit by that attack? What kind of freakish speed did the man have with his hand seals!?

The electrified water caused Zabuza to cry out in pain, his body half falling forward from the shock. Shit, his body wasn't listening to him any more due to the shock and Kakashi wasn't one to let an opening like this go.

"**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu**," Kakashi's words echoed over the lake. A huge torrent of water lifting up as they did so, hundreds of liters held in the air by his Chakra alone before it all came down in a single instant aimed at just one target, Momochi Zabuza. The Nukenin screamed as the A Rank Suiton Jutsu hit him, sending Zabuza well over a dozen meters away and back onto land, ripping up several trees in the process, this wasn't good. He could barely move before and that attack was bound to have done some real damage to him, the Nukenin heard the sound of a human landing on the branch of the tree he had crashed into and looked up. Staring down at him, eyes hard the tome of his Sharingan spinning slowly was Hatake Kakashi, Sharingan no Kakashi the man who was said to know over a thousand different Jutsu.

"What are you?" Zabuza demanded, if wasn't exactly an inspired question but some part of his pain addled brain wanted to know the answer to it.

"Your death." Kakashi answered quickly, there was the sound of something cutting through the air before a pair of senbon hit the side of Zabuza's neck making the Nukenin slump forward, dead. A Strange figure landed next to the former member of The Seven Swordsmen, they weren't tall but Kakashi knew that damn mask and if it wasn't for the fact his Genin were here he'd kill the possessor of it on principle alone for what those bastards did to Rin. It was a Kirigakure Hunter Ninja, a special section of the Kirigakure ANBU Corps that existed only to hunt down and kill Nukenin, they didn't take other missions all they ever did was hunt and kill or hunt and retrieve what Kirigakure believed to be their property. The Hunter Nin looked up at Kakashi before bowing low in thanks.

"I appreciate the help," The voice behind the mask sounded young, older than his Genin but still very young. "I've been shadowing Zabuza for months now and I probably wouldn't have ever gotten such a clear shot at ending him if you hadn't fought." The Hunter Nin admitted before picking up Zabuza's body. "Sorry but I'll be taking this, the body has secrets in it no one should ever know about." A Shunshin took the Hunter Nin away from Kakashi the very second that the Ninja finished the statement, Kakashi would have loved to have put a gender and age to the Hunter Nin for easy identification if they ever ran into each other again, but couldn't due to the concealing clothing and distinctive mask. That being said from the hight of the Hunter Nin Kakashi could deduce that the Hunter Nin either wasn't finished growing yet, most likely making them a teenager, or they were a midget.

Could go either way really.

Still what just happened wasn't normal, even a Kirigakure Hunter Ninja that knew his reputation, and what he did to Kirigakure Ninja that got in his way, would have cut off Zabuza's head and burned the body on the spot...

Fuck.

Okay so Zabuza wasn't dead and he'd been helped by a conspirator, or at least that was the most likely scenario he could come up with, still this also worked to Kakashi's advantage in a way. If Zabuza had more than one conspirator left then they probably would have tried to take him down as a group, that meant that Zabuza probably only had that one man, or woman, left of his forces, that was reassuring, just one added enemy he could deal with.

Kakashi felt his body lurch as he walked back towards his Genin on the far shore. His Chakra was almost depleted, he hadn't needed to use that much in one battle in a long while. After all for the vast majority of Kakashi's missions in ANBU were usually stealthy assassinations instead of out right battle. His Chakra coils weren't used to having to use that much on a regular basis anymore, then again it wasn't like he fought A Rank Nukenin on a usual basis. Still if this proved anything it was that he needed to get back into shape and quickly, this couldn't become a weakness that was repetitive.

Now he just had to think about how to take down Zabuza and his helper when they came back for round two, The Kirigakure no Kijin hadn't shown him everything he was capable of, Kakashi was sure of that. But then again, Kakashi hadn't shown all he was capable of either, their battle had been primarily Taijutsu and Bukijutsu, Kakashi had yet to truly display his skill with Ninjutsu, his own preferred area of the Shinobi Arts.

Next time would be different, he had Zabuza's measure now, and just the same Zabuza probably had his. That meant next time their wouldn't be any fucking around, the Nukenin would go in straight for the kill and Kakashi would do the same. The next time they fought Kakashi would show Zabuza exactly why he was said to have copied over a thousand different techniques. The mist was starting to dissipate, Kakashi could see his team in the distance, time to get back to them before he fell down from over stressing himself.

**XXX**

Uzumaki Naruto was worried, he didn't want to admit it but he was. Kakashi-sensei had been gone for awhile. The last time he'd seen his Sensei Kakahsi had been engaging Zabuza in a heated Taijutsu match using a level of skill that Naruto hadn't even believed existed. It was sobering to realise just what a huge gap existed between his current skill and that of a Jonin. While self-confident Naruto wasn't going to lie to himself, it would take years for him to reach that level of skill.

The mist started to disperse and the group of three Genin, plus the bridge builder, saw Kakashi slowly making his way back to them, no worse for ware except for a slight limp. Though Naruto put that down to being hit by the Mizurappa before. The silver haired Jonin looked over and waved before making two hand seals that Naruto didn't recognise, a quick look at both Sasuke and Sakura told him they didn't either which meant they were not any of the standard twelve.

"You all okay?" Kakashi asked, even his voice sounded partially exhausted as the Jonin stood before them and covered his red Sharingan eye. The group of Genin nodded in exchange before their Sensei fell to one knee.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The words came from three throats at the same time, Kakashi waved his three students off.

"I over used my Sharingan and Chakra in that battle," The silver haired Jonin stated as his breathing became more laboured. "I'm suffering from a mild to moderate case of Chakra exhaustion, I should be back to one hundred percent in three or four days." Kakashi stated before gesturing to Naruto and Sasuke to come closer, the two Genin complied instantly.

"I'm going to need help to make it to Tazuna's house though," He admitted with a slight amount of sheepishness in his tone. "Otherwise I'll probably fall on my face before we get there, Naruto, Sasuke, do you mind lending me a shoulder each?" Kakashi asked getting a nod from the two boys.

"Sure Sensei," Naruto responded placing Kakashi's right arm over his shoulder.

"Hn," Sasuke replied with a grunt, Kakashi didn't take it personally. Most of the Uchiha Clan had a habit of communicating using grunts at times, well Obito didn't but he was something of an anomaly in that Clan. Sasuke was probably wondering about his Sharingan, well it wasn't a story he would be hearing any time soon, Kakashi hated it to much to simply tell on a whim after all.

Honestly the boy reminded Kakashi of himself when he was younger, too little discipline and too much anger. Naruto was much the same really, though the blond kept his resentment behind a mask. However Kakashi, like all ANBU, knew all about hiding behind a mask and to someone like him Naruto was stewing in his own resentment and anger but not letting it out, that was very psychologically unhealthy as any psychologist could tell you. He'd have to make Inochi bring that up with Naruto when there was more trust between the two, because Kami knew with the mess of psychological problems that both Sasuke and Naruto were they would be having more than one session with the man.

Still, if properly channelled that anger could become productive, given the right circumstances and training. But that was still far off for now he needed to focus on what was coming next, because Kami knew he couldn't afford to mess it up since that would get him and his Genin killed. That was something Kakashi would not allow, the silver haired Jonin cared for the kids even if he didn't show it very well, he simply wasn't used to interacting with children.

After all he hadn't exactly ever been a child himself, graduating The Academy at five, becoming a Chunin at six, the youngest Chunin in Konoha history as a matter of fact, and finally becoming a Jonin at thirteen. Granted he'd been kept with Genin Teams even after becoming a Chunin due to his young age in order to gain experience the Sandaime had told him, his Kage had confided in Kakashi years later that he hadn't wanted to put such a young Shinobi in harms way if it could possibly be avoided, even one as talented as Kakashi.

This had kept up until he transferred to Team 7, or Team Minato, at age eleven. Where he stayed with Obito and Rin, two people who had just become Chunin at eleven, and they began to head out on C and B Rank missions with more regularity until that mission that got Obito killed, Kakashi didn't miss the irony of the world. He spent the first years of his life pushing people away, he only ended up letting in Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee then just when he started opening up to Obito he died, then when he started to open up to Rin she died. Finally his Sensei and Sister Figure, who he had placed his trust and faith in for years, the fist people he opened up to after his father committed suicide, died. The fact of the matter was that while Kakashi was intimately familiar with loss, pain and being a Shinobi he didn't know how to interact with children. The silver haired Jonin shook the thought off, he could have some more personal introspection later now he had to focus.

"Tazuna-san how far away is your house?" Kakashi inquired from the shoulders of his two Genin making the older man start slightly.

"Around twenty minutes away." Tazuna replied, he didn't bother asking if Kakashi was okay. The man needed to be carried by his two students, it was quite obvious that he wasn't okay. The silver haired Jonin fell into deep thought for a moment before nodding to himself.

"Alright then, Sasuke, Naruto stay close to Tazuna, Sakura you'll be just out in front on point but be ready to fall back should something happen." Kakashi commanded, his Genin moving to their positions instantly, Sasuke and Naruto still carrying him naturally.

The walk to Tazuna's house was made in silence, his Genin were probably still trying to process what they had seen while Kakashi himself was just focusing on their surroundings, he didn't want to be taken by surprise, no matter how unlikely the chance. Tazuna seemed to be content in letting them stay quiet, Kakashi wasn't sure if he was just copying what his Genin and himself were doing or if the older man really didn't want to talk but honestly he didn't care.

When they saw Tazuna's house though it was a welcome sight. It was larger than most, though that could probably be attributed to Tazuna being a carpenter himself, not to mention the fact he probably made good money when Nami's port was being expanded years ago, most likely more than enough to renovate the family house. Considering the size Kakashi would also put good money on it being used as an Inn when Nami was on it's feet, that being said it didn't look like the building had fulfilled that function in quite some time.

His Genin dragged him up to the front door, hopefully they wouldn't tell the other Jonin about this it would really put a downer on his reputation. After all it wouldn't exactly look good for him if it was known that the great Sharingan no Kakashi needed to be dragged off the battlefield by his Genin after a fight, even if it was against someone like Zabuza. Asuma would never let him live it down if he found out about it, and Kakahsi wasn't even going to touch what Gai would do.

Tazuna rapped twice on the door with his knuckles drawing a sharp crack with each hit, it was a simple motion but revealed much about the situation in Nami and how bad it really was after all why would a man knock on the door to his own home? From what Kakashi could tell it was probably to alert both his daughter, Tsunami, and his Grandchild, Inari, that he was home. Had the door been opened without the knock Kakashi had little doubt that those inside would have assumed it was Gato's men and fled immediately, Nami really was in bad shape. Kakashi could hear sounds inside of the home and felt the presence of someone behind the door, likely looking through the eye hole before it opened.

The woman that stood their was quite the looker, as a matter of fact she kind of reminded Kakashi of Uchiha Mikoto, hopefully Sasuke wouldn't have any unwanted flashbacks while they were here. Thankfully while Tsunami reminded Kakashi of Kushina's best friend and Sasuke's mother she also differed in several ways. Firstly Tsunami was shorter than Mikoto had been, her hair was longer and, perhaps most different of all, her hair was arranged differently and was two or so shades lighter. With any luck these differences would stop Sasuke's mind from going back down memory lane, because eventually it would arrive at the massacre and the last thing Kakashi needed right then was for Sasuke to be vividly reminded of that.

"Oh thank Kami you're okay!" Tsunami exclaimed hugging her father, another difference her voice was a bit rougher than that of Mikoto. Which meant there was now even less of a chance of Sasuke having a mental breakdown due to reliving the massacre, wonderful. Father and daughter broke the hug before Tazuna decided to introduce the Shinobi to his daughter.

"These are the Konoha Ninja that I hired to help out." The elder man said, rubbing the back of his head. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi." Tazuna introduced getting a nod from each of the Konoha Shinobi in turn as they heard their names from the older man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Tsunami said with a small bow, her eyes lingering on Kakashi for a second, concern flashing inside of them. "Please come inside and lie down, you look like you could use the rest." She added standing aside and allowing the Konoha Shinobi into her home, something Kakashi was quite grateful for. After all while his students didn't seem to mind carrying him but he would like to give them a break and rest would do him well in aiding the recovery time.

"Thank you," Kakashi replied with a small smile. "If it wouldn't be to much trouble I'd like to have my students put me down in bed first before we talk some more." He finished with a small nod to both Naruto and Sasuke making Tsunami nod instantly.

"Of course, please follow me." She said briskly before turning and walking back inside of the large home, Team 7 and Tazuna following behind her.

"Where's Inari?" Tazuna questioned looking around for his grandson. His daughter simply continued up to a set of stairs and began to climb.

"He's out at the moment, down by the peer, he said he was going to watch the ocean." Tsunami replied, Kakashi filed away the tone in which she spoke of her son. It was protective and somewhat despairing, something was wrong with the boy, something she wanted to protect him from but didn't know how, the only question was what it was. Kakashi quickly shelved that train of thought, in the ANBU you needed to know things like that due to how sensitive the missions were but he didn't need to pry like that any more, Kakashi would if he had to but the silver haired Jonin doubted it would come to that.

They arrived at the second floor, it was well kept, just like the first. It seemed to be a series of bedrooms, all but confirming Kakashi's guess that the large house had once functioned as an Inn. As they walked down the hall to a room Kakashi took a deep breath in through his nose, much like the Inuzuka Clan his own senses were quite like that of a dog. Due to this his nose and hearing was quite a bit more sensitive than anyone else in the house, with the possible exception of Naruto who by all reports had heightened senses from his tenant.

The hall smelled of polish, timber and smoke, likely from a wood fire down stairs. Personally Kakashi was just happy it didn't smell like stale sweat, body odour and semen. Woman whoring themselves out weren't exactly anything new when it came to earning money in economic depressions like the one Nami was in and after everything he'd seen Kakashi wasn't one to judge. But if Tsunami had been doing that particular line of work in order to help feed her family he would have to have been on guard every time she brought someone back as it could be an assassin in disguise, honestly Kakashi was just glad he didn't have to deal with that.

Tsunami opened a door near the end of the hall and led the group inside, out of habit Kakashi scanned the room, looking for threats. It wasn't a large room, containing only two futons on the ground and a window, he couldn't see any other entrance points besides the window and the bed. No traps set up to the best of his ability to detect them, not that Kakashi was expecting any really but it paid to be careful.

"Here you are," Tsunami said with a smile as Sasuke and Naruto released his arms and Kakashi slid into the futon on the floor. "We have two room's ready for you and your students," The blue haired woman continued. Kakashi knew instantly that when this place used to be run as an Inn she had been the one in charge, the way she was speaking told him that she had done this many times before. "Please tell me if there is anything that I can help with," Tsunami finished with a smile making Kakashi return it with one of his own and a grateful nod.

"Thank you, Tsunami-san." The sliver haired Jonin said with a nod his mind drifting slightly. Two rooms, two people in each the question was who would be rooming with who. If he put Naruto and Sakura together he'd never hear the end of it, if he put Sasuke and Naruto together they'd probably kill each other before the week was out. Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't be too much of a disaster but he'd be on the Uchiha's shit list for a month or so after the mission was all over all of them were bad choices really, Kakashi sighed he'd think about it later, for now the most important point of business was informing his Genin that they would likely be fighting to the death once more when the week was out. While he'd been thinking Tsunami had opened up the window, letting a small and relaxing breeze inside.

"We have a problem." Kakashi stated bluntly with a sigh drawing everyone's attention instantly. "Before I could kill Zabuza he was taken away by a Kirigakure Hunter Nin. I've been running over it in my mind and based on the weapon used to attack Zabuza, the Hunter Nin's tactics and the way they acted there is a very good chance that Zabuza is still alive." The horrified silence in the room from his Genin and Tazuna was telling in and of itself, they weren't happy with the news. Not that Kakashi found that surprising, **he** wasn't happy with the news.

"Y-You, You are kidding right? How can you be sure, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura had an unusual amount of control over her words for someone that he could quite clearly see was terrified of him being right, there was hope for her after all.

"The Hunter Nin used senbon, that's not a weapon you use when going in for the kill. More importantly the Hunter only needed to bring back Zabuza's head and blade as proof of his death. According to protocol in Kirigakure they should have sliced off Zabuza's head, taken the blade and burned the body before leaving, there was no reason to take the whole thing." Kakashi explained clinically, no point in beating around the bush. Sasuke was still, but behind his eyes the silver haired Jonin could see the Uchiha's mind working a thousand miles a minute. Naruto however was shaking slightly, but that dilation of his pupil, the way he was breathing that wasn't fear, that was excitement. It seemed the blond was exited at the idea of Zabuza being alive, maybe even pleased, Kakashi couldn't help but shake his head good naturedly.

Naruto really was an excellent mixture of his parents that much was certain. Kushina-nee would have been overjoyed to be able to fight someone of Zabuza's calibre to test her skill and while Minato-sensei tried to hide it, he wasn't much better than his wife in that regard.

"We most likely have a week or so before Zabuza is up and ready to fight though," Kakashi continued looking up at the ceiling and recalling the anatomy lessons all ANBU were made to take. A small bug flew in from the window and landed on his head buzzing for a few seconds before heading back out the window as Kakashi thought before nodding to himself. "Yes definitely around a week, a week and a half if we're lucky." The silver haired Jonin confirmed making his Genin and Tazuna look grim.

"Are you sure?" The older man asked looking worried, his glances at his daughter told Kakashi that he was more worried for her, and most likely his grandson, than for himself. "Maybe you're just over thinking it?" Tazuna put forward, Kakashi shook his head, oh there was an abysmally slim chance that the Hunter Nin wasn't aiding Zabuza but it was so insignificant as to be non-existent when one looked at the evidence.

"No I'm sure he'll be back, besides if I'm wrong a little preparation never hurt anybody." Kakashi stated looking around at his Genin as he spoke.

"What are we going to do in order to get ready?" Sasuke inquired, it seemed the young Uchiha was on the ball, not surprising he had earned that Rookie of the Year spot after all. Still it did kind of annoy Kakashi that people insisted on calling Sasuke a genius, just like they did the Hyuga that graduated at the top of his class the year before, these days apparently every Rookie of the Year was a prodigal genius.

Kakashi had seen geniuses, Namikaze Minato, Konoha Kuroii Senko, who became the Yondaime Hokage at age twenty seven and created an original technique that even while incomplete was an A Rank Jutsu. Uchiha Shisui, Shunshin no Shisui, an ANBU Captain at sixteen and was arguably the best user of the Shunshin Jutsu ever. Uchiha Itachi, while he didn't have any fancy titles Itachi didn't need them. His strength spoke for itself and those that saw the young man get serious on the battlefield rarely lived to tell about it.

Sasuke was an incredible young man, that Kakashi was more than happy to acknowledge and he was talented, that Kakashi was also more than happy to admit. However compared against the ones he had just mentioned Sasuke did not rate the title of genius. More importantly, just as it had gone to his head long in the past, the title of genius could likely go to Sasuke's head making him even more arrogant than he already was, a serious danger as far as Kakashi was concerned. More importantly it could lead to Sasuke becoming immensely frustrated and angry if he failed, at least in his own eyes, to live up to that label of genius and if there was one thing that boy did not need it was more anger. The silver haired Jonin gave himself a small shake mentally, there was time to reflect on that later, now his Genin would need to know what would happen next.

"You're going to be training." Kakashi stated bluntly, he wasn't going to beat around the bush they didn't have time time for that.

"But Kakashi-sensei how is training going to help, Zabuza managed to match you even if we trained for a week straight we'd only get in the way." Sakura stated, her voice worried. Kakashi nodded, she was right after all, they would get in his way if they tried to fight Zabuza, fortunately that wasn't what they would be doing.

"Indeed Sakura," The silver haired Jonin said with a nod. "If your opponent was Zabuza this week of training wouldn't matter in the slightest, he would still be able to kill you any time he felt like it and if you got into our battle you'd be worse than useless, you would all be liabilities." Kakashi stated bluntly, Minato-sensei had always been blunt with them when he felt it was for the best, all he could do was emulate the man he respected and hope that it worked.

"However you won't be fighting Zabuza but the fake Hunter Nin that helped him, even then you don't need to win, you just need to survive long enough for me to kill Zabuza so that I can come to your aid and finish the Fake off as well." Kakashi finished eyes hard as he turned to look at Sasuke and Naruto. "Your focus in this battle, all of your focus, will be on surviving, nothing else will matter past that." The silver haired Jonin stated, his voice cracking like a whip.

"Teaching you new Jutsu right now would be a waste of time, you wouldn't be able to make use of them properly by the time Zabuza and his friend are ready to fight so instead we'll be focusing on making what you already know better." Kakashi said, a plan quickly forming in him mind. "We will be working on your Chakra Control so that you can all use your techniques more effectively and for longer, if we can accomplish this then there is a very real chance that you wont just be able to survive, but win, the fight against that Hunter Nin." The silver haired Jonin finished with a fierce look in his single visible eye. Granted they probably wouldn't be able to win against the fake Hunter Nin even if they complete the training but they needed the morale boost something awful after all the bad news he'd just dumped on them.

Still at least he'd get to watch them fall out of trees and onto their heads, ah some times you just had to enjoy the little things.

**Ashura Chapter 3 End**

**Next Time: The Demon of the Mist**

**Naruto Databook!**

**Uzumaki Naruto**

**Age: **13

**Rank: Genin**

**Taijutsu: **2

**Genjutsu: **1

**Ninjutsu: **2

**Bukijutsu:** 1

**Shurikenjutsu: **1.5

**Intelligence: 1**

**Strength: **2

**Stamina: **4

**Speed: **2

**Stealth: **2.5

**Chakra Control: **0.5

**Hand Seals: **1

**Total out of 60: **20.5

**All values are worked out in terms of out of 5 in other words 1 out of 5. Also as Naruto learns new skills not currently listed they will be added to the list and the total will be increased accordingly.**

**Notes: **Needs a **lot** more work

**Bukijutsu **literally means Weapon Techniques, this is an umbrella term for things like Kenjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, ect. However for the purposes of this particular work it will be used to refer to close combat with the use of small weapons like kunai and daggers.


End file.
